Time to Fly
by FeistyJellybean
Summary: Twelve Heads. Eight transfer students. A school where you are sorted according to your horoscope. And now the world has something much more dangerous to deal with than global warming or natural disasters. T for gratuitous swearing on Karkat's part.
1. Expositions

**ACT 1**

**Your name is KARKAT VANTAS. You are SIXTEEN years old and [for most of your life] have been attending an academy where you are grouped according to your HOROSCOPE SIGN. You just so happen to be the HEAD of CANCER HOUSE, which [you like to think] means that you are the GOD of all the FUCKING IGNORAMUSES who have the same SIGN as you.**

"It's like the world's gone to hell and nobody gives a flying fuck," Karkat muttered as he slouched into his overstuffed chair. His grumbled words caught the attention of the Aries Head, Aradia, who had been curled up on another plushy armchair reading a book thicker than the Bible.

Her chocolate-brown eyes flicked up from the massive tome. "Are you referring to the recent earthquakes and fires that have been breaking out?" Her voice was soft, but with absolutely no emotion or infliction in it. She tucked a stray lock of her thick black hair behind her ear and closed her book after carefully marking the page she had left off on.

"No, I'm talking about the amount of fucking calories in the meth-laced energy bars I consume on a regular basis to survive dealing with you fuckasses," he snapped, spitting out the words like rapid-fire bullets from a machine gun.

She shrugged, her face expressionless as usual. "Okay."

Karkat swore under his breath. _Okay. _She was 'okay' with everything that happened no matter how fucked up it was. She wandered around with that Gogdamn blank look on her face and it freaked the hell out of him out even though they were actually rather close.

Next to her, Sollux, who was his best friend [and the Head of Gemini], shifted and directed a warning glare towards Karkat. "KK, don't get all upthet and throw a hithy fit like you alwayth do," he dictated, working the words around his lisp. "Jutht calm down."

"Yes, it is quite unseemly and serves no purpose other than to distract people," enunciated Kanaya as she looked up, her focus diverted from the fashion sketchbook she always carried around with her. "Besides," she added, "I believe you will soon have something else to bitch about."

Gog, the Virgo even made swearwords sound classy with the way she talked. "And what's the new subject of my never-ending rage and hate?" As he said it, Karkat slumped even deeper into his chair, eyebrows knit together with dark irritation.

The corners of Kanaya's lips twitched upwards. "Well, it would appear that we have new arrivals."

The room was silent for a few seconds as the other eleven Heads processed the information. Karkat was the first to recover. "Are you fucking _shitting _me? There are new students coming here? May I be at liberty to remind you that we're at a school practically nobody knows about on an island in the middle of the fucking Atlantic ocean? Gog, what the fuck were those fuckasses up at the headmaster's office thinking when they-"

"Chill, bro," slurred Gamzee as he chugged another gulp of Faygo. His clown makeup was smeared all over his Gogdamn juggle face. "It's a motherfuckin' miracle is what it is. Miracles all around." Karkat narrowed his eyes at the clearly-not-sober Capricorn as he prepared to unleash another speech of swearwords and insults.

"Nepeta thinks it's a purrfect opportunity to make more friends!" chimed Nepeta with a large smile on her face. "How many new students are coming?"

Terezi licked her lips and smiled a shark-toothed grin. "Hehehe. I bet they will smell and taste delicious," she chattered, her eyes staring at nothing behind her red-tinted glasses.

"No. You are _not_ going to fucking lick and smell them like you do with everybody else, it's fucking _disgusting _and-"

Kanaya cut him off before Karkat could go any further. "Eight. They will be arriving tomorrow, so please be courteous." Her eyes slid to Gamzee, who was nearly passed out on his seat. "Or there will be clown hunting," she added ominously.

Tavros laughed nervously from his wheelchair. "Uh, so, do you, uh, know what Houses they'll, uh, be in?" His eyes, large and deer-like, flit between Gamzee and Kanaya, who was [at the moment] staring daggers into the juggalo's back. Karkat huffed and sat up straighter, trying to relieve the sudden ache that had developed in his lower back. Weren't Tauruses supposed to be _strong_, for fuck's sake? Tavros's stutter and insecurity had always confused the hell out of him.

"No. But we will find out tomorrow. Be at the school entrance by six. In the morning." She sat back down and continued sketching, placid again.

"Hold your breath, Karkles," cackled Terezi, sensing the incoming hurricane of profanity. She felt her way over to him and sat down, accidentally sitting on his lap while she was looking for a seat.

"What the _fuck _are you doing, Terezi?" he yelled, trying to shove her off without hurting her. "Get the fuck off of me before I-" A bell rang, clear and loud.

"Free period is over! Stop being so glubbing _silly _and come on, Karkat!" giggled Feferi as she swept towards the door with all the grace of a mermaid. Underwater, of course. Mermaids on land were unfortunately clumsy as shit. But everyone knew that mermaids were fake as shit as well.

And by the time Karkat had successfully extracted Terezi from his lap and followed the rest of his friends out the door, he had completely forgotten what he had been upset about in the first place.

* * *

It was the end of the day, and the Heads had retired to their rooms. Karkat was sharing a large double with Sollux, which was simultaneously cool and infuriating. Karkat had just finished showering and was still in the bathroom.

"Tho, are you looking forward to the new thtudentth, KK?" Sollux asked slyly, sitting on his bed and adjusting his bi-colored glasses. He knew very well what the answer to that question was.

"Do you want the long answer or the short answer?" the grumpy teen retorted from the bathroom as he violently brushed his teeth.

"Let'th go with the thort anthwer, then," Sollux answered.

"The short answer is, fuck no," Karkat growled as he spat the glob of minty foam into the sink and rinsed out his mouth. "You already know that, fuckass."

"How many timth do you thay the word 'fuck' in a thingle day?" wondered the other boy as he changed into his pajamas.

Karkat turned off the lights to the bathroom and stepped out, smelling like shampoo and peppermint. "Enough to kill all the fairies that ever dared to exist," he scoffed as he ran his hand through his damp hair. "Enough to make other people wash out their mouths just because they heard me talking. I could write a fucking dictionary of swearword combinations with the word 'fuck'. I could-"

"You could do a lot of thingth, motht of them negatively oriented," finished Sollux as he set his glasses on the dresser next to his bed and slid underneath the covers. His eyes were already shut, which was a bit irritating to Karkat. He had never been able to find out the color of Sollux's eyes because of _that _and his stupid red-blue glasses.

Sollux was already asleep by the time Karkat had gotten into his bed as well. He reached over and flipped the lightswitch, sending the room into a soft darkness. Only the moon and its entourage of stars remained as light, shining distantly through the window.

And soon, Karkat Vantas was asleep as well, the only time his face was ever relaxed, the only time he didn't have walls of iron around his feelings and himself. The only time he was ever vulnerable.

That night, he dreamt. He and his friends.

Or would it be more accurate to say that they entertained terrifying nightmares? Nightmares of writhing monsters and tumbling corpses and blood and fire and skulls and death. Nightmares that left them fearful and exhausted, running away and facing horrors and the unknown and the fears they kept tucked away in the dark corners of their hearts.

But in the morning they would remember nothing. Nothing but the fear.

* * *

**Your name is JOHN EGBERT, you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD and you are currently on a PLANE to an ISLAND in the MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. More specifically, you are, along with seven other people who just so happen to be your best friends, their relatives, your sister, and your cousins, TRANSFERRING to a mysterious PRIVATE ACADEMY in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Apparently they sort you according to your HOROSCOPE, which means you will be in ARIES HOUSE. You are ALMOST THERE, but it is FIVE THIRTY IN THE MORNING and you are suffering from severe JET LAG.**

"John, are you awake?"

He turned his head drowsily to face his sister, Jane. "Yeah, I'm awake." He had to blink his eyes a few times and rubbed them behind his rectangular glasses before she came into proper focus.

She smiled. "I think you and I are the only ones who aren't sleeping like they're dead." The eight of them were the only ones on the small plane, and six of them were practically unconscious. The Striders were sitting up straight with their eyes hidden by dark sunglasses, but it was a safe bet that they were sleeping based on the slow breathing and the faint snores. Dave, his best bro, was in the characteristic 'cool guy' pose; arms crossed with that faint smirk on his lips. Gog, how did he pull that off in his _sleep_? Dirk, who was Dave's older brother by one year, was sitting next to the window and his head was gradually inching towards the glass.

Roxy and Rose were also a part of Dave's family. Actually, it was kind of weird how they were related. Rose and Dave were twins and Roxy and Dirk were twins. Lalonde sisters and Strider bros. John stifled a smile as Roxy rolled over [she had been occupying two seats lying down] and muttered something about a tequila. Rose, on the other hand, had brought a pillow along and had buried her head in it a few hours prior. She came prepared. She was _always _prepared. It was an awfully nice pillow, embroidered and tasseled. John recalled something about her and Roxy's passive-aggressive one-upmanship showdowns. Apparently the pillow was an indispensable participant in the legendary battles of subtle, ironic 'favors'.

Jade and her brother Jake were curled up on the seats and deep in dreamland. His cousins, John thought wryly, were always sleeping. Jade had narcolepsy and Jake was… Jake was…

Jake was Jake was Jake.

_Because that made perfect sense, _John groaned, stretching his arms and curling his toes until they popped. The tension in his toes disappeared as he wiggled them around in his sneakers.

"Are you nervous?" Jane whispered, her voice hushed as she looked around at their slumbering friends. Her eyes, a pale blue, were magnified beneath her round glasses and she looked rather apprehensive.

"About going to this school? I'd rather be watching a Nick Cage flick, but-"

She giggled softly. "You'd rather be watching a Nicolas Cage movie than _anything _else, John." Her face turned serious. "But really. Are you?"

John shrugged, wincing as his shoulder bone cracked. "A bit, but I'm too tired to really be anything besides… tired. I think it's going to be fun, though."

"An adventure, as they say?" The masculine voice had certainly not come from Jane. John squinted over Jane's surprised head to see Jake awake and grinning.

"Shit's going to go down, Egbert. We're gonna charge in that school and be like 'bow down to your new kings motherfuckers' and they'll fall all over themselves trying to worship us because we're just that fucking awesome," Dave drawled, uncrossing his arms. His pale blonde hair looked exactly the same as it had before he fell asleep. Did he ever get a bedhead? John rubbed his own messy black hair ruefully.

"When did you wake up? I swear you were all asleep a few seconds ago," John said, slightly flustered by the sudden awakening of his friends.

Dave snorted. "I'm a fucking Strider, Egderp."

John waited a few seconds for a more forthcoming explanation before realizing that there would be none. "I guess that explains _everything_," he scoffed sarcastically. "And by 'everything' I mean jack _nothing._"

"Well, as for me, you never know when you might be attacked on Hellmurder island, chap," Jake said cheerfully as he took the cup of soda from his tray and sipped it. "But I think it will be quite the adventure when we land. Say, how long do we have until we do?"

John looked out the window. They were already quite close to the ground, and he estimated that they would be arriving...

"Attention, passengers, we will be landing shortly. Please turn off all electronic devices and do not stand up until we have landed. Thank you for flying with us." The intercom cut off, and John realized that everybody else had woken up during the announcement.

"Well, it would seem that we are almost to our destination," Rose said, brushing her blonde bangs out of her eyes after yawning elegantly. If that was possible. How the hell did you yawn elegantly? Gog his friends were weird.

* * *

The merry-go-round.

He wanted to ride it SO BADLY.

"It's a conveyer belt," Rose corrected from behind him as if she could hear his thoughts.

He stuck his tongue out at her and scanned the merry-go-round for their suitcases.

It would always be a merry-go-round in his heart.

Always.

They recovered their suitcases and found their ways outside the airport, where a ridiculously long limousine was waiting. "How delightfully cliche," commented Rose as she slid inside the car and disappeared behind glossy black doors and tinted windows. John followed, sitting tentatively on the leather seats. He was almost afraid to sit, as if the fanciness was breakable and there were dire consequences to pay if the sacred fanciness were to be broken. Once he did, he found the seat to be exceedingly comfortable and relaxed as Dave, Dirk, Roxy, Jane, Jade, and Jake plopped down as well. The car purred smoothly as it took them up the winding road to Alternia Academy.

Roxy pulled her hand from over her eyes and blinked groggily. "Gog, I have the _worst _hangover." She was nearly always inebriated and it was difficult to have a coherent conversation with her. Most of them didn't mind, though, her slurred speech and mishaps were more of an 'endearing character trait' than anything.

"At least you're sober now," Dirk said, his eyes inscrutable as always behind his triangular shades.

"Sure doesn't feel like it," she groaned before letting her head fall back on the headrest and closing her eyes again.

John looked out the window, noting the picturesque scenery around them. A slight fog, lush green grass, tumbling beds of flowers, pretty trees, and the occasional stream of sparkling, clear water. It was almost too perfect.

Almost.

The driver pulled up in front of an elaborate metal gate, behind which John could see twelve figures outlined in the mist. His stomach twisted in anxiety as the chauffeur turned off the ignition and gave an encouraging nod to the eight passengers in the back.

"Well, I guess it's time to fly!" Jade said with a large smile as they prepared to step out of the car and into a new life.

And in time her prediction would be closer to the truth than any of them would have thought.


	2. Redundancy Is Redundant

**Your name is VRISKA SERKET. You are FIFTEEN years old and you are HEAD of SCORPIO HOUSE. Right now, it is SIX IN THE MORNING and you are in NO MOOD to deal with eight NEW STUDENTS.**

She tossed her long, curly black hair behind her and fought back a yawn. Yawns were stupid. Mornings were stupid. She'd been sleeping when Kanaya had leaned over her and-

And slapped her in the face with a fabric sample. It wasn't a hard slap, seeing how it had been administered with a piece of cloth, but she woke up instantly anyway. Her glare had been received with a shrug and a clear "It is time to wake up and greet the newcomers."

Rooming with Kanaya could be a pain in the ass sometimes. Their room was covered with different rolls of fabric, mannequins with newly finished clothes pinned on them, tape measures, sewing junk, books, broken Magic 8 balls, and dice. The last two items on the list were hers. She figured that what with all the crap Kanaya dumped in their room, she was allowed to have some useless crap of her own.

"Stupid meddling friend," she'd hissed after she brushed her teeth and made herself socially presentable.

Kanaya had looked up, smiled, and said, "Thank you."

Although in truth, Vriska was relieved Kanaya had woken her up. The slap to the face had saved her from the terror of her nightmares, nightmares that she couldn't remember but knew would haunt her throughout the day.

She would never admit it, though. Especially to Kanaya.

Because as of RIGHT NOW they were standing outside in the cold mist of morning waiting for a bunch of stupid new students to arrive when she could have been sleeping or doing something productive.

Not that she would ever be doing something productive in the first place.

Vriska tapped her foot against the ground precisely sixty-four times. Eight sets of eight. "Kanaaaaaaaaya, when are they getting here? I'm losing precious procrastination time."

Her friend smirked. "Don't worry. The car is almost here."

And sure enough, a sleek black limousine had pulled up in front of the twelve Heads.

A door flew open and out fell a…

**Your name is JAKE ENGLISH and you are SIXTEEN years old. You have just gotten out of a SMASHINGLY FANCY LIMOUSINE only to see TWELVE people YOUR AGE surrounding the car. You presume that these are the 'HEADS' that were sent to ESCORT you to the school but you feel SLIGHTLY INTIMIDATED ANYWAY. It probably doesn't help that you JUST FELL UNCEREMONIOUSLY onto the ground in front of them.**

"Well, hi there!" he said with a bright smile. "Fell off the old doohickey, do excuse me for that. Anyhoo, the name's Jake English. Nice to meet you all."

He could feel the stares. They were burning holes into his head.

Jade tumbled out behind him, landing with muffled thump on his back. She looked up, dazed from the jolt out of her narcoleptic slumber. "Sorry, Jake. Oh! Are you the prefects? My name's Jade and this is my brother, Jake! We just-"

"Jake! Jade! Are you okay?" Jane threw open the car door, which slammed into Jade's head and sending her to the floor , unconscious. "Oh no!" Her eyes widened as she saw her cousin on the ground. "I'm so sorry! Jade, are you alright? Do tell me you're not hurt! I swear that that wasn't a Freudian slip in literal action and that it was a pure accident!"

Jake stared up at Jane, bewildered by the sudden collapse of his sister and the appearance of his cousin. He was pinned under Jade, making it a tad difficult for him to get up and move around.

And meanwhile the twelve teens were staring silently at them as if they were aliens.

"Well, this is awkward," he grunted as he tried to escape his knocked-out sister. "What a brilliant first impression, don't you think?"

Roxy peered out from inside the car. "Jane, would you be a darling and move?" Beside her, Dirk sighed [did cool guys sigh? Jake wasn't quite sure] and reached past John and Rose to open the other door.

"Miss Zuipperpips, please escort yourself out the other way," he said while nudging his twin sister towards the door. Rose and John slid out of the car and walked around to where Jake and Jade were, blinking a bit in the fog. Dirk managed to extract Roxy from the car and help her along to the front as well while Dave stepped out of the limo calmly. Gog, the Striders made everything seem cool. Jake wondered if there was ever a moment where they _weren't _utterly suave and confident. Probably never. At least, not in front of other people.

A loud, angry voice interrupted his musings. "Are you assholes done being complete idiots?" The speaker in question was a little on the short side, thin, and had dark brown hair along with curiously colored eyes that Jake couldn't make out from his position.

"Karkat, what did I say about being courteous?" reproached the tall girl next to him with the faintest hint of menace in her modulated voice. She was pale and graceful, her short black hair twisting into elegant waves in the back. Pearly green eyes swept over them. "We apologize for his rudeness. I am Kanaya. Welcome to Alternia. May I have your names?"

Every word she spoke could have stood alone as a sentence by itself. It was actually quite interesting.

Rose stared disinterestedly. "My name is Rose Lalonde, and this," she moved her head towards Roxy, "is my older sister, Roxy Lalonde."

John grinned, his large front teeth revealing themselves. "I'm John! John Egbert. And that's my sister Jane!" Jane smiled sheepishly as she helped the just-recovered Jade up.

"Dave," supplied the blonde as he leaned against the side of the limousine.

"Dirk," the other Strider nodded, the lower half of his face expressionless as usual.

Jade swayed on her feet, a bit dizzy. "It's nice to meet you!"

Kanaya inclined her head. "Quite. I believe it is time to introduce ourselves, as well."

**Your name is ARADIA MEGIDO, and you are SIXTEEN years old. You are the HEAD of ARIES HOUSE, and today, you have a NEW STUDENT in your HOUSE. His name is JOHN EGBERT and you are NOT QUITE SURE what to do.**

"You are an Aries?" Aradia inquired towards the black-haired boy.

"Yeah! Are you the Head? Man, that's really cool! It's nice to meet you!"

She twitched. John was overtly enthusiastic and she could feel her vitality draining away just by being near him. It was exhausting. "Yes. I'm Aradia, and starting from today, you will be in my House. I'll show you to the Aries dormitories if you are ready."

He looked a bit uneasy. Was her monotone making him apprehensive?

"Uh, yeah, I'm ready. Hang on, just let me get my stuff-"

John grabbed his suitcases and looked up at Aradia to indicate that he was ready. She turned around and swept towards the Aries house, making sure he kept up. "Would you like me to help you with your baggage?

He looked surprised. "No, it's fine. Thanks, though."

Aradia shrugged as she led him to the boys' section. "Okay. I think that you're rooming by yourself. You are…" She walked down the hallway, inspecting the room numbers as she did so. At the very end of the corridor, she stopped in front of a door and handed him the key. "413. Remember it. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

The boy shifted. "Uh.. no. Thanks for showing me to my room though, I really appreciate it." He broke into a smile. "I guess I'll see you around, then?"

She stared at him, her face as blank as ever. "Yes, I guess you will. You can stay in your room and settle in for a few hours, but at ten-thirty, please be in the Aries room. I will be taking you on a tour of the campus, along with your friends and their Heads. Do you know where that is?"

"Is it the big room with the tables and chairs we passed by earlier?"

"Yes. Well, then, good-bye." She turned around and strode off, leaving John to assimilate into his new room. She wasn't sure what to think about her new charge yet, he seemed nice, but a little too energetic for her to deal with properly. But she supposed she was okay with him. It didn't really matter.

**You are now KARKAT VANTAS, and you have a NEW PRICKHEAD in your House. His name is JAKE ENGLISH, and right off the metaphorical bat he is PISSING YOU OFF.**

This new student was annoying.

Really annoying.

He talked with this stupid Australian accent and he was ridiculously friendly. Couldn't he tell that Karkat DID NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES want to be friends with him?

"Hey, asshole, here's your room, here's the key, and be at the study room by ten-thirty," he snapped as he shoved the key into Jake's hands and interrupted the monologue Jake had been entertaining.

"Study room?" GOG, the kid was clueless.

"The giant-ass room with all the tables and chairs we JUST walked by. Are you fucking blind?" Karkat scoffed and turned around, ignoring Jake's good-bye. Hopefully he would get the hint and not bother him. Ever. Again.

**Your name is TEREZI PYROPE. You have JUST turned SIXTEEN YEARS old, and two NEW KIDS who smell like ORANGE CREAMSICLES and BUBBLEGUM have just come to your HOUSE, which is LIBRA. You showed them to their rooms and now you are on the hunt for ORANGE CREAMSICLES and BUBBLEGUM FLAVORED ICE CREAM because all of that DELICIOUSNESS has made you HUNGRY.**

You cannot be Terezi any longer because she is on a legendary quest for junk food with artificial flavoring.

**Your name is EQUIUS ZAHHAK and you are FIFTEEN YEARS old. You are HEAD of SAGITTARIUS HOUSE, and you are not sure why you have THREE new students but you suppose it couldn't hurt. However, this DAVE character is making you slightly UNCOMFORTABLE. And by that you mean SWEATY.**

He had to show the girls to the female dormitory first, and by then he was left with the blonde boy behind sunglasses. Ironic ones.

"We done? Cause I gotta put my shit down after that longass plane ride," Dave commented offhandedly as they stopped in front of the door.

"Yes, we are done. Feel free to recuperate, but make sure to gather with your two companions by ten-thirty as I previously informed you," Equius replied, itching to get away from the boy and his dark, reflective shades.

"Whatever you say," Dave smirked as he shut the door and left the Head at the door feeling somewhat defeated, although he could not figure out why.

Equius stalked off, muttering to himself, "I need a towel."

**You are now VRISKA SERKET and you REFUSE to PUT UP WITH THIS REDUNDANT BULLSHIT because in the process of breaking the fourth wall, the readers now know what's coming next. But you basically just left that Jane girl at her door and walked away to resume breaking your new collection of MAGIC 8 BALLS.**

* * *

A/N: Well... pretty much everybody besides Jane/John were Sagittarius(es), so I just split the Alpha kids into their Beta counterparts' patron trolls' Houses. Except for Roxy 'cause she and Dirk are twins. Jegus this is complicated. So Terezi has Roxy and Dirk, Karkat has Jake, Equius has Rose, Dave, and Jade, Vriska has Jane, and Aradia has John. I guess because John is technically an Aries based on his birthday?

And I got lazy towards the end. Sue me. Bring forth your lawyers and the Supreme Court of FF!

While you're at it, do review 3 It would make my day (:


	3. Is It Paradise Yet?

**Your name is JADE HARLEY and you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. You just got back from a TOUR of your NEW SCHOOL's CAMPUS, which is RIDICULOUSLY LARGE and FANCY. You like it well enough, but the HEAD of your HOUSE, which is SAGITTARIUS, seems to have a problem with SWEATING, which is kind of weird. Right now you are in your ROOM with your roommate, ROSE LALONDE.**

"What do you think of the school so far? I think it's really pretty!" Jade exclaimed, bouncing on the bed and giggling. She wiggled her fingers, delighted that there were no rubber bands on them, which meant that she hadn't forgotten anything - yet.

Rose glanced up from her writing. "It's quite pleasing, aesthetically, but whether or not I will enjoy the actual curriculum is another story." She returned her eyes to her novel-in-progress and resumed scribbling.

It was eight in the morning, just two hours after they had arrived. Luckily for them, it was a Saturday, which meant there weren't any classes for awhile. Jade pulled her black hair into a messy ponytail to keep it out of her face.

"They have a really big library, Rose, I'm sure you would enjoy it," Jade hinted, a smile stretching across her lips.

"Are you implying that you want to go to the large garden next to the library?" the other girl responded without looking up. "I will go so far as to assume that you have forgotten where it is and that you want me to escort you, using my interest in literature as a cover."

She pouted. "You saw right through me! So… can we go? Please?" Her green eyes widened and her bottom lip pushed out. Rose was unmoved by the puppy-dog-face that was currently being aimed at her with all of its devastating might. Jade huffed and scrambled over to the other bed, sticking her face in Rose's line of vision and intensifying the pleading look. "Please?"

Rose deliberated for a few seconds, leaving Jade in tenuous suspense before conceding and closing her notebook. "Very well. Do you have your key?"

Jade frowned. "Where did I put the key?"

"I suggest you put your first rubber band on your finger to remind you of your key. Meanwhile, it is on the bathroom table, where you left it after spilling your necessities on it."

"Thanks, Rose!" She shot towards the bathroom, retrieving her key in record time and slipped on her shoes at the doorway. "Come on, Rose! Let's go!"

When they reached the library, it was only then that Rose realized just how big the library was. At first glance, it simply looked enormous. At second glance, it was ludicrously enormous. Towering bookshelves upon bookshelves rose so high that rolling ladders were instituted at intervals around the place. And there were rows and rows and rows of bookshelves that were all crammed full of books, large and small, thick and thin, colorful and dull. A large study section in the middle was decked out with mahogany tables and plush chairs. The ceiling was arched, with a glass dome capping it. The center was a stained glass display of a circle of flowers and grass entwining around a little patch of brilliant blue sky. It was beautiful.

"I would not be exaggerating if I said that I could spend half my life in here," remarked Rose as they chose a table and sat down. Jade's eyes kept flickering to the west wall, which was almost entirely glass, through which a lush garden could be seen, staying artfully on the right side of overripe. Flowers of every color could be seen blooming towards the sky, and winding orchid vines climbed around thin, graceful trees.

Rose's attention, however, was focused on a certain symbol that hung on the far ceiling. "How very odd," she murmured as she tapped her fingers on the table.

Jade snapped back to reality and away from the garden that rivaled Eden. "What is?"

The blonde's lavender eyes remained fixed on the symbol. "I will explain when I have formed a plausible speculation. For now, do not worry about it." Jade stared for a few seconds before shrugging and turned back to the wall, resuming her rapt gaze.

If she squinted, she thought she could see a vegetable and fruit patch as well. She sighed with delight. This place was getting better with every second.

The table next to them was occupied by Kanaya, who was working furiously in her sketchbook. She had already filled up half of it, and the other half was promising to vanish at the rate she was going. Rose looked at it curiously. The sketchbook contained fashion sketches; beautiful clothing designs with vibrant colors and swirling decorations. Kanaya caught her gaze in the middle of uncapping a marker and smiled. "Hello, Rose. How are you finding Alternia so far?"

"It's delightful. This library alone is amazing." Rose returned the smile. "May I see your sketchbook?"

She handed her the sketchbook and Rose turned through it, admiring the Virgo's tasteful illustrations. "Your sense of fashion is amazing as well. Perhaps one day you could draw something for me? I find this schools' uniform to be a tad bland."

Kanaya was surprised and flattered at the same time. "Of course, it would be a pleasure. I will be so bold as to say, I think we will be the best of friends here."

"I agree."

And thus was a new friendship formed, over libraries and exchanged pleasantries and light and windows and space. Jade was puzzled as she looked back only to see Rose and Kanaya bent over a sketchbook, discussing something in lowered tones.

_It's great that you've made a new friend already, Rose!_

She would have to add another rubber band to her finger to remind herself to thank Kanaya.

And another one so that she would remember to make new friends herself.

**Your name is ROXY LALONDE and you are SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD. You have been looking ALL OVER the school for something alcoholic, but to no avail. Your TWIN BROTHER, DIRK STRIDER, says that it's probably a GOOD THING, but you ignore him because you are CRAVING the drink like nothing else. On the other hand, you have just met a very grumpy boy named KARKAT and you are currently in the middle of his PROFANITY-LITTERED RANT.**

"And it's like I can't walk two fucking steps without running into one of you Gogdamned transfers," Karkat spat venomously as Roxy stood there, confused. "You fucktards have GOT to be the-"

"We've got to be the most kickass bastards ever, we know," Dirk finished, leaning against the wall, unfazed. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I'm on Mission fucking Impossible and I'd appreciate it if you moved out of the way."

'Mission fucking Impossible' was trying convince Roxy to give up her search for alcohol and to get her back to her room before she did find some and became hopelessly drunk. Gog, she hit on EVERYBODY when she was drunk. Even him and Dave. He didn't want any accidents happening and a new nephew or niece popping out in nine months.

Karkat sputtered for a few seconds as Dirk dragged his sister back to the Libra section and nearly collided with Terezi, who was carrying a half-eaten orange creamsicle and bubble-gum flavored cotton candy. "Oops! Hi," she sniffed the air, "Dirk! And Roxy! Do you want some cotton candy? I'm afraid the creamsicle is all mine, though. Hehehe."

Roxy moaned. "Sorry, my hangover is too bad to be eating anything that sugary," she sighed. Dirk scoffed.

"Cotton candy is basically melted up sugar, Roxy," he said as he maneuvered her around Terezi. "Thanks anyway, Ter. Gotta get this drunk back to her room before she does something regrettable."

The drunk in question stumbled off towards the girls' rooms and eventually arrived at the end of the hallway, fumbling around with the key before inserting it and arriving safely in her room. Jegus she was tired. They'd spent a whole fucking _hour _walking around the school. It was outrageously big. What school had a pool bigger than the ones in the Olympics? It was downright ridiculous.

She eyed her computer for a few seconds, thinking about messaging Jane, her best friend, before remembering that they now went to the same school and that she could visit her any time she wanted. At the moment, though, she was too tired to do anything besides sleep. Flopping down on one of the beds, she yawned enormously and shut her eyes, falling into unconsciousness before a minute had passed.

**Your name is JANE CROCKER and you are SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD. You've been placed in SCORPIO HOUSE along with VRISKA SERKET and found her DELIGHTFUL. You hope you two can become good friends. You have just left your ROOM and you are now wandering the school, looking for the kitchen because quite frankly you are ITCHING to BAKE some COOKIES.**

She stopped when she saw the tall Capricorn. Was Gamzee his name? Either way, he was approaching her with that wide smile on his face. It was kind of creepy. No, it was very creepy.

"Hey, bro. How're you doing?"

Jane pursed her lips for a second. She was doing fine, but she was most certainly not a 'bro'. "Great, I love it here. By chance, would you happen to know where the kitchen is?"

He nodded lazily. "Motherfuckin' miracles everywhere. Kitchen's over there, I'll take you."

Despite her stammered protests that she could find it by herself, he grabbed her wrist and led her down the hallway. Jane couldn't do much besides stare at the back of his head, which was covered in thick, wild black hair. He walked surprisingly fast; she almost tripped over her own feet trying to keep up. When they stopped by a clean black door labeled "KITCHEN", he let go and gave her one last nod before vanishing from her sight.

She was bewildered for a few seconds. Where did he _go? _But she opened the door tentatively and her eyes widened.

It was a kitchen.

It was a kitchen bigger than her entire _house _back home and was sparkling clean, modern, and beautiful. One side was full of food; sleek refrigerators and cupboards and pantries and shelves. On the opposite side, cooking utensils flourished in abundance. There was a long island in the middle, complete with stoves and sinks and open spaces and drawers and everything a cook could ever need.

Jane was in heaven.

**You stop being Jane Crocker because she is currently in too much of a dazed stupor to respond adequately. Instead..**

**You are now JOHN EGBERT. You have just gotten out of a tour with the Head of Aries, ARADIA MEGIDO, who is PRETTY and NICE, but her MONOTONE SCARES YOU. You decide to VISIT your best bro, DAVE STRIDER, but you are soon assaulted by a MAIDEN IN CERULEAN BLUE.**

"Joooooooohn!"

He turned around to find Vriska against a doorway, with her arms crossed and a wide smile on her face. Her eyes were blue, like his own, and he thought he could see a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist.

"Oh, hi, Vriska!" He grinned at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for your sister. She disappeared on me after saying something about a kitchen!" Her voice was sweet, but almost disturbingly so, as if it contained a sleeping monster ready to pounce.

He shrugged good-naturedly. "Well, that's Jane for you. She loves baking, so she's probably in the kitchen making something delicious!"

"Thanks, John. See you around!" With that, she turned and disappeared, her red Chucks barely making a sound as she did.

"Uh, okay," he said, but he was talking to thin air. John sighed and continued walking, his eyes lighting up when he saw a flash of blonde hair and-

"Sup?"

It was Dirk. Well, it wasn't like he didn't like Dirk, anyway. "Hi, Dirk! How's it going?"

"I hope that was a rhetoric question because my answer would burn the skin off of your eyeballs," answered Dirk as he stepped around the corner.

John winced. "Ew. I don't even know if eyeballs have skin."

"Well, there's something for you to think about while you're wandering around," the older Strider said. "Seen my lil bro around?"

"No, in fact, I was just looking for him! Dave's impossible to find sometimes," laughed John, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Dirk nodded. "Guess we might as well look for him together. Come on, Egbert. Time's a tickin'."

John fell in step with him as they walked down the corridor. "Do you like your Head?" John asked.

"Of course I like my head, it's got my face on it and it's a fucking beautiful one," Dirk intoned. "Yeah, Terezi's cool. A bit weird though, spent most of the tour sniffing me and Roxy, kept saying we smelled delicious. How 'bout you?"

He thought for a few seconds. "Aradia's nice and all, but… it feels like…"

"I'm guessing she talks in a monotone and it's getting your poor little self all bothered?"

"Gog, yeah. How'd you know?"

"I'm a fucking Strider, Egderp."

John sighed as they walked. Dirk and Dave were just way too similar sometimes.

* * *

A/N: Three 2000+ word chapters in one day. I love Sundays. But since tomorrow's a school day and finals are coming up, I guess updates will have to wait until the weekend... sorry! Click that review button. It's a very attractive button and it's begging to be clicked. This DOES have a storyline, but it's going to take awhile to get started...


	4. Imperfect Cadences

**You are now JANE CROCKER and you are hearing some VERY INTERESTING RUMORS about your new school. **

"You know, I heard that there's some sort of secret underground cave below this place," a girl from Leo House said to her friend as they headed to the dining hall. It was seven in the morning and a Sunday morning, no less. Jane had no idea why she was out of her bed at such an ungodly hour [although her stomach's growling probably contributed to it] but she was out of bed and once awake, she could not fall asleep again. So she followed the two girls, her mind wandering elsewhere.

"I think it's just some stupid thing they made up to make this school less boring," scoffed the other Leo. "What would they do with an underground chamber anyway?"

Jane sighed and rubbed her eyes, abruptly cutting off a swearword when she felt her face come in contact with…

With Gamzee. Or, rather, Gamzee's chest.

Gog_damnit._

He looked down at her with that accursed smile broadening across his face. "Hey, sister. One motherfuckin' miracle of a day, isn't it?"

Was it a rule of conduct for the male Heads to say the word 'fuck' or some other related profanity in all of their sentences? She resisted the urge to massage her temples in anticipation of the migraine that she knew was coming. "Um. Sure is." Reluctantly looking up at his face, she realized that he wasn't wearing his clown makeup. Up close, she could see that he wasn't that bad looking. His facial structure was well defined, she mused, mentally slapping herself in the face when she realized what she was doing.

"Miracles everywhere," he sighed happily before giving her a tight hug and loping off drunkenly.

Which left her in utter confusion. Was he high? Or was he like that when he was sober? What kind of crackhead randomly hugged girls he barely knew?

"He either really liketh you or he'th stoned," an amused voice commented from behind. She turned to see Sollux and a very grumpy Karkat. Which was not unusual.

"That piece of shit is just being an idiot," Karkat grouched, apparently too tired to come up with a more imaginative insult. He looked exhausted. Dark bags showed beneath his eyes, which were half-closed as he leaned on Sollux.

"He'th not a morning perthon," Sollux snickered as he nudged his friend towards the door that led to the dining hall.

Jane nodded distractedly, watching them go. Karkat's "Don't touch me you shitsponge" was clearly audible as they disappeared behind the door.

She shrugged and pushed open the door herself, immediately spotting Dirk at a table on the opposite side of the room. He still wore his shades and his normal clothes, seeing as they hadn't received their uniforms yet.

He nodded at her as she sat down next to him. "Morning, Jane. You look like someone just locked you in a room full of junkies and mushrooms."

Jane grimaced. "It's not that far from the truth. I was coming here and I ran into Gamzee and he hugged me and then he just walked off like he was drunk." Her words spilled out rapidly as she eyed Dirk's full plate of food.

Dirk pushed it towards her. "Go ahead, I'm not hungry." As she thanked him and picked up a fork to begin eating, he sat back and watched. "And is this getting your metaphorical panties in a figurative twist?"

She groaned and pushed her bangs back from her forehead. "It's so creepy, Dirk! He pops up everywhere with that stoner face and he keeps saying 'motherfuckin' miracles' every single time!" She mimicked Gamzee's deep voice as she said the last section, immediately shoving a forkful of scrambled eggs as if trying to clean out the taste of the swearword.

"Well, the stoner part isn't entirely inaccurate," remarked the strawberry-blond. "It's interesting that you're getting so worked up about it though. Wait one second while my insanely high IQ calculates the possibility of you having 'the hots' for him. Calculating…

With a involuntary smile, she shoved him gently. "Stop ironically acting like your AR! And I do _not _have the hots for him!" She shuddered at the thought. "Gog, I would die if I did. Being around him scares me."

"Calculations finished," he ended. "It seems the probability of you having the-"

"Don't say it," she begged, taking a sip of orange juice before resuming her work on the pancakes. "What if I develop a phobia? What would you even call that?"

"Juggalo phobia," snorted Dirk, stealing a piece of bacon from the plate.

"Uh, you wouldn't, uh, happen to be talking about, uh, Gamzee, would you?" Jane glanced up to see Tavros, looking rather nervous. "Can I, uh, sit down?"

Dirk smiled. Or did he smirk? He smile-smirked. "Go ahead, bro."

Tavros sat down across from the two. "Thanks. And, uh, I couldn't help overhearing that, uh, well, I guess it looks like you're afraid of Gamzee?" He sped up at the end of his sentence, trying to avoid stuttering again.

She winced. "Is it just me?"

The Taurus smiled encouragingly. "Uh, well, he's actually a pretty nice guy if you get to, uh, know him better, I mean. Just, uh, give him a chance?"

The older Strider's lips curved upwards. "Well, she gave him a chance and he hugged her. And then she proceeded to flip the fuck out."

"I did _not_," she retorted. "I was just…" Her eyes widened. Tavros, confused, looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, uh, hi, Gamzee," he stammered.

_GOGDAMNIT._

"Mind if I join you, Tavbro?" He sat down before Tavros could answer him. Jane squirmed in her seat, not wanting to look at the Capricorn.

"Well, I'm done eating, Dirk," she announced and got up with the plate in hand.

**You are JANE CROCKER and you have just made a VERY OBVIOUS ESCAPE.**

It was a few hours after the breakfast 'incident' and Jane was feeling emotionally drained. She'd made up her mind to get over her clearly irrational fear of Gamzee because, as she saw it, there was no point to stressing herself out over nothing.

But before that, she decided to go see Roxy. Her best friend's drunken giggles would probably make her feel better.

Probably.

While she was walking past the library, she noticed a slumped figure down the hallway. It looked remarkably like Roxy when she was drunk, which prompted Jane to speed up her pace until she reached the figure and-

_GOG. FUCKING. DAMN IT._

And it was Gamzee, passed out against the wall. She stood a few feet away from him, trying to calm herself before she approached him and gently rolled him over.

His eyes were shut, which scared her even more, and his breathing was shallow as well as irregular. Jane looked around for somebody, anybody, but to no avail, as the corridor was as empty as Roxy's bottle of wine. Which is to say, it was completely empty.

She tentatively placed the back of her hand on his forehead, meaning to check for a fever, but quickly snatched it back when she realized just how hot it was. Frowning, she stood back for an objective look at the situation. Gamzee was passed out. He had a ridiculously high fever. And he was starting to mumble deliriously.

"…Jack."

Jack? Who was Jack? Or rather, in Jake's phrasing, who the devil fucking dickens was Jack?"

Gamzee muttered a few more expletives along with 'Noir' and 'Scratch' before his head lolled even further. His face looked oddly innocent, and his eyes were moving behind his eyelids, which made his ridiculously long eyelashes tremble slightly. He was still unconscious, though.

Jane looked around one last time before taking a deep breath and deciding that she would just have to handle this herself.

**You are still JANE CROCKER and you have just spent the past twenty minutes dragging a JUGGALO to the NURSE'S OFFICE.**

When they finally arrived, she was panting because of the extra weight. She hoped she hadn't inadvertently banged his head and made him even more asinine than he already had been. Gog forbid _that _from happening.

A nurse hurried in and Jane quickly explained the situation, sighing with relief when the nurse told her she would take care of him. She tried to extricate his arms, before realizing that they were clamped on tighter than Dirk's mouth when he was keeping a secret.

"Don't worry, this happens often," the nurse sighed with a grim expression on her face. They eventually removed Gamzee from Jane, and she thanked the nurse profusely before rushing out of the office.

**Your name is DAVE STRIDER and you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. You are chilling with JADE HARLEY in the SAGITTARIUS STUDY ROOM because it's a SUNDAY MORNING and because why the fuck not.**

"And so Karkat said that he had a date with a machine gun! So Eridan asked if it was to shoot him and Karkat was like "No, it's to shoot myself in the forehead six hundred and twelve times because I'd much rather do that than spend one more second here with you, you fu-"

Dave shushed her, a finger pressed against her lips. "You don't need to repeat what he said, I can imagine," he scoffed.

Jade giggled. "Poor Eridan! He looked really sad, I felt so bad for him!"

"Don't. Dude's a fucking dickhead anyway."

"Karkat or Eridan?"

"Both of them, really." He shifted his position on the chair.

Jade opened her mouth and was about to speak when a muffled explosion interrupted her. Her eyes grew large as she glanced towards the source of the explosion. A few screams were heard and footsteps were instantly pounding towards the noise. "Dave, what was that?"

He got up, took her hand, and led her out of the room to investigate.

* * *

Investigating took them to the Head dormitories, where one door was blown open and steaming slightly. He was almost afraid to look inside, it weren't for the fact that he was a Strider and Striders weren't afraid. And if they were, it was strictly for ironic purposes and ironic purposes only.

Jade peeked around the door and gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth as she stared. On the floor was the Scorpio Head, Vriska, who was lying flat on the floor. She was surrounded by scorch marks, blood, and…

"Is that her fucking _arm _next to her?"

And it was. Her arm had been blown off and it was lying on the floor as well, burnt and bleeding almost beyond recognition. Vriska's face was a bloody mess; her left eye was covered in red stickiness and burns. She looked unconscious. He hoped she was unconscious, because anybody whose arm and eye had just been blown off did not need to be awake and feeling it.

"Oh my Gog," whispered Jade, reluctant to enter the room. Her eyes lit on a few fragments of white. "Is that… is that a cue ball?"

Dave didn't answer, as he was too busy texting Egderp to _hurry the fuck up _and to get the doctors over here because that Vriska chick was letting more blood out than the Niagara fucking Falls.

When they did arrive, he noticed that her computer was bright and running, with an unread message on it that he couldn't make out from the distance. Standing back with his hands in his pockets, he surveyed the damage to the room which Jade clutching his arm.

"Dave… can we go, please?"

He didn't want to stare at the spreading puddle of blood on the floor, either. "Sure thing, Harley."

And they turned around, walking away from the site of destruction, with Jade still trembling as she held on to his arm.

* * *

A/N: Well, writing Karkat, Dave, and pretty much everybody is really difficult. I appreciate any constructive criticism! And for some reason I always associated Karkat with the word 'fuckass'. His insults are just... too awesome for me to imitate.

Hehe. So I guess I blew up Vriska. AT LEAST IT'S ALMOST CANON

Jegus I'm terrible at writing Karkat and Dave. And Dirk. Why are they so awesome ;_; This is preposterous.

And I just wrote out chapter summaries up to Chapter 10. What's wrong with me sdfghj

Well, I like the chapter titles I have planned out. This should be fun (:


	5. Prepare For Liftoff

**You are now VRISKA SERKET and you are IN YOUR ROOM on a LOVELY SUNDAY MORNING.**

She played around with her dice, tossing them on the bed and calculating her luck based on the numbers that showed up. Eight dice. She loved the number eight. And spiders.

Her computer lit up; somebody was pestering her. She groaned and dragged her laptop towards her to see who the hell it was.

At first, she couldn't see anything; it looked like a blank chat. Then she realized that the person typed in white [what a douchebag] and cursed as she highlighted the text to make it visible.

The person was impeccably polite [such a douchebag], which, of course, got on her nerves. She tapped out an answer to the mysterious person's greeting and waited.

What came next was a little unexpected. She was not, out of all the things she had been, expecting a mention of the 13th horoscope sign. Usually people as polite as this person followed greetings with trivial, useless pleasantries.

Frowning, she typed back.

AG: Why are you 8ringing this up? A 8it random, don't you think? ::::)

S/he replied with a cryptic answer that confused the hell out of her. What on earth was this asshole talking about? Who in the hell was Jack Noir? Maddening frustration raced through her fingertips as they shot back another reply.

Vriska scanned over the next line of white text.

_The third is decaying._

She was ready to rip out her hair. All of it.

_All of it._

AG: What8v8r.

She signed off and ended the chat, sprawling back onto her bed. She needed a distraction. Reaching down on the floor, she picked up a shiny white ball and marveled at its delicious smoothness, instantly forgetting the stupid douchebag in white.

'Douchebag in white'. It could be a TV show or something.

Anyway, the ball in her hands. It was kind of like a Magic 8 ball, but much more powerful and truthful. The only problem was that there was no viewing port to look through! She rolled it around in her hands, smiling as she toyed with it.

Behind her, the computer lit up one last time as the mystery person messaged her again.

_Prepare for liftoff._

As she turned to look at the computer, the ball in her hand exploded in a fiery mass of heat and impact, a few fragments shooting upward while the rest scattered around the room, and the last thing she remembered was an excruciating pain in her left shoulder socket and a burning sensation in her eye.

**You try to be DAVE STRIDER but fail as he has already DISCOVERED a SEVERELY INJURED VRISKA in her room and CALLED THE PARAMEDICS. Or whatever the equivalent of paramedics is in this situation. **

**You are now KARKAT VANTAS and you are staring at the MUTILATED BODY of the BITCH YOU HATE, VRISKA SERKET, but you can't help but feel BAD for her.**

He winced as he saw a jagged white spur of bone inside the ripped apart flesh. It was still sluggishly oozing blood.

The sight made him sick. He didn't want to feel any pity or sympathy for Vriska, but seeing her unconscious with her arm ripped off and resting on a separate table [which was too bloody and gruesome for him to look at properly] and her eye destroyed, he didn't really have much of a choice _but _to feel bad for her.

Around you, the other ten Heads were gathered, speaking in hushed voices and flinching when they looked at Vriska's body. Kanaya looked particularly worried as she eyed the nurses who were performing emergency first-aid on Vriska.

_She's still alive, you floppy rumpus assholes._

He mentally berated himself because he knew that that insult had made no sense whatsoever. Whatsoever.

Next to him, Terezi was sniffing the air, and her face blanched as she caught the distinctive scent of blood. "How bad is it?" she whispered, her blind eyes wide and fearful.

"It's pretty bad," he answered gruffly, inwardly thankful for the fact that Terezi was blind and therefore didn't have to see it. "Her arm and eye were blown off."

Her face contorted for a moment. He felt something groping towards his hand and he took it, squeezing her hand tight as a comforting gesture. Her hand was small and warm as he cradled it in his own.

The main doctor came out from behind the curtains already clad in his white coat and gloves as well as his surgical mask. "Clear out, all of you, we need to treat the patient," he said impatiently, shooing them out as more doctors appeared with scalpel and hemostats in tow.

They got up and filed out silently, casting glances behind them as the doctors began cleaning the wound. Karkat caught a glimpse of the doctors discussing whether to try and reattach the arm. His stomach turned over and he closed the door, the last one to leave.

Sollux let out a deep breath. "Well, thit." His eyebrows were furrowed in thought and he had begun tapping his foot on the floor.

Kanaya nodded, her face grave.

Terezi cocked her head as if she could hear the nod. "We haven't investigated yet, though," the Libra said, her voice sounding strained.

"Wwhat is there to investigate?" Eridan demanded, stumbling a little bit over his w's and v's.

"Well, why was there an explosion in the first place?" challenged Terezi as she began to feel her way back towards the Head dormitories. "It's suspicious that something just randomly blew up like that!"

"She has a point," Kanaya said softly, taking Terezi's elbow and steering her the correct direction. "It is rather odd."

Eridan threw up his hands in disgust and stormed the other way, his scarf fluttering out behind him. Feferi murmured an apology and rushed after him. They could hear the two argue as they went, Eridan nearly yelling at her while the girl tried to calm him down, words tumbling from her lips like rain.

Karkat ground his teeth and followed Terezi. Gog knew what else was waiting in Vriska's room after _that. _He needed to make sure she was alright.

**Your name is TAVROS NITRAM and you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. You are the HEAD of TAURUS HOUSE, and you tend to SPEAK with a STAMMER. Your friend-enemy, VRISKA SERKET, has just been the victim of a MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION and you are not quite sure how to proceed.**

Gamzee walked next to him, his usually smiling face serious and pensive, an unusual look for the juggalo.

"So, uh, do you have any idea what, uh, happened to Vriska?" he tried, hoping to encourage a word from his reticent roommate.

"No idea, Tavbro," Gamzee slurred. He had just gotten out of the nurse's office twenty minutes before Vriska's accident, and he was so doped up with medication that he had to lean on Tavros in order to walk properly.

Tavros's thin frame barely supported the much taller boy as they proceeded. "So, what are you, uh, thinking about right now?"

His friend's mouth quirked into an odd half-smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Medication lessened his swearing. A lot. He was almost glad Gamzee was so hyped up on meds. Just listening to him talk while he was sober made Tavros want to wash out his own mouth.

"Well, uh, yes, I would like to know," Tavros muttered, swaying as Gamzee took a particularly wild step forward. "That's why I uh, asked in the first place." Another question brought itself up to the front of his mind and he frowned. "Did you pass out again today?"

"Sure did." Tavros pouted disapprovingly. Gamzee's fits of unconsciousness never signaled good news as far as his health went.

"Well, uh, who brought you to the nurse's room?"

Gamzee stopped for a minute, considering. "Think it was that Jane chick. The new one with the glasses and black hair."

As far as Tavros knew there were two new girls who had black hair and glasses. He couldn't for the life of him remember which was which. "Oh, well, uh, that was nice of her," he offered.

Gamzee chuckled. "Sure was a miracle how she got me over there."

They resumed their slow pace to the dorms. "Miracles everywhere?" Tavros said tentatively.

"Miracles everywhere." he agreed. The two of them continued onwards to the relative safety of their room, their safehold, their fort.

But after what had happened with Vriska, Tavros wasn't sure if _anywhere _was safe anymore. He shrugged off the prickles that were running down his spine and focused on getting Gamzee to their dorm. Safely.

**You are now JANE CROCKER, and you are getting your METAPHORICAL PANTIES in a FIGURATIVE TWIST after hearing that your HEAD, VRISKA SERKET, has been BADLY WOUNDED.**

"And Dave said that her arm was all ripped off and her eye was _gone!_" John gasped, his blue eyes wide open. He was in a minor state of shock after having visited the destruction site. John had never dealt well with blood, and in this case, there was so much blood that it was a miracle Vriska had survived at all.

Jane felt a bit queasy, imagining what the scene must have looked like. She made a mental reminder to go visit Vriska after she was recovered. If she recovered properly. A missing arm was a little hard to recover from. _Just_ a little.

"Oh my," was all she could manage after John finished telling the story. Her brother looked worried as he nibbled his bottom lip. He kept running a hand through his hair as if trying to release the stress that had built up in his system.

"What an interesting school," he joked weakly, seeing her face and trying to cheer her up, though his mouth was still twisted into a stressed frown.

"Quite," she said, and wrapped an arm around her little brother, suddenly struck by an irrational fear of losing him.

**You can't help but hold him even though you know your fear is irrational. You stop being JANE CROCKER so you can be somebody else while JANE and JOHN process this SHOCKING NEW DEVELOPMENT.**

**Your name is NEPETA LEIJON and you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. You are the HEAD of LEO HOUSE and your BEST FRIEND is EQUIUS ZAHHAK. You LOVE CATS. At the moment you are TALKING with your roommate, FEFERI PEIXES.**

"Nepeta inches closer to Feferi, wanting to talk about a mysterious dream she had!" Nepeta narrated as she jumped onto Feferi's bed.

Feferi smiled a bit tiredly. "Sure, I had a, oops, I mean, Feferi would like to talk about her dream, too!"

"Purrfect!" Wiggling around to join her friend, Nepeta curled up and began, abandoning her third-person narration. "Last night, I had the weirdest nightmare ever! There were all these _monsters _with tentacles and stuff! And this voice kept whispering in my ear, but I couldn't really tell what it was saying!" Her eyebrows knit together. "Well, there was this one phrase that stood out from the rest. It was… it was… Rogue… Rogue of Heart, I think? And Jack. Jack Noir kept popping up while they were talking to me."

A chill ran down the other girl's body. "That's pretty much how my dream went, too! Except I kept hearing "Witch of Life"! It was reel-y scary, don't you think?" She tried to mask her fear in front of the younger girl, not wanting to make her more afraid than she already was.

Nepeta nodded in agreement, olive green eyes wide open with the faintest hint of terror. She looked around the room before whispering to Feferi. "I hope Vriskers is okay." Looking uneasy, she added, "Fef, what's going on?"

**Your name is FEFERI PEIXES and you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. You are the HEAD of PISCES HOUSE, and your friend has just asked you a QUESTION that you DON'T KNOW HOW TO ANSWER. If you're being honest with yourself, you have NO IDEA what's going on, either. All you can do is HOPE that everything will be okay. And that's what you do. HOPE.**

**You are now ROSE LALONDE, and you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. Your older sister is a HOPELESS ALCOHOLIC who is probably trying to get over ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL and right now, you are in the LIBRARY, staring at the MYSTERIOUS SIGN that piqued your interest YESTERDAY. You are in the middle of CONTEMPLATION when your older brother DIRK STRIDER comes in.**

"Hey, Rose."

She glanced up to see Dirk standing by her chair, his face angled toward the same inscription she had been studying. "Hello, Dirk. You wouldn't happen to be looking at _that, _would you?"

"Well, little sister," he began, adjusting his shades. "The probability of me looking at _that _is... let's see. It's off the fucking charts is what it is. You wouldn't happen to be finding something _very _interesting about it, would you?"

A half smile found its way on her face. "For your information, I do find something terribly interesting about it. I would like to hear your opinions on my theories and speculations. If you will…"

* * *

A/N: This chapter was a little difficult to write. I think I'm getting too overenthusiastic and thus, the quality of my work is dropping. There's a little bit of irony to bite on. I made SO many typos while writing it and had to fix a lot, but I'm not sure if I missed any.

If there are mistakes, please point them out. I really appreciate you reading this.

Oh and since I have the next five chapters planned out, I may as well just say: there will be light-hearted chapters, as opposed to... these. Yeah. That's about it.

I'm tired ;_;


	6. Peppermint Tears

**You are now JADE HARLEY. A few hours ago, you discovered VRISKA SERKET in her room, BADLY WOUNDED. You are worried for her, but you have JUST RECEIVED your UNIFORM AND SCHEDULE and are therefore DISTRACTED.**

"Look, Rose!" Jade giggled as she swished the skirt around. "It's so pretty!"

Rose crossed her arms, eyeing her reflection in the mirror. "Yes, I suppose it is." The uniform was a short-sleeved, white dress shirt with a dark blue vest over it and a black tie for the top. The skirt was layered and ended a few inches above their knees, much to Rose's discomfort. "If the skirt were to be a little longer…"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" She pounced on the bed to retrieve her new schedule, studying the list of subjects. "Hey, what classes do you have?"

"In chronological order by period? Calculus, Astrology, Astronomy, Literature, Latin, Physics, and Psychology," Rose returned, having already memorized the schedule when they had first received it.

"Aren't astrology and astronomy basically the same thing?" asked Jade, puzzled as Rose went into the bathroom.

"There are subtle differences," Rose called as she changed into her regular clothes. "What's your schedule?"

Jade studied the piece of paper in her hand. "Statistics, Astrology, Advanced English, Biology, French Literature, and a little mini-course on genetic engineering!" She laughed as she placed her schedule on the dresser. "I didn't know schools offered genetic engineering!"

"Unusual," agreed Rose as she stepped outside. "It would appear that I share Astrology with you."

"Cool! Hey, can we go find our classes so we aren't lost tomorrow?"

"Certainly."

**You are now JOHN EGBERT and you are in the HOSPITAL WARD visiting VRISKA SERKET, who is doing MUCH BETTER but still BEDRIDDEN.**

She lay on the bed, her shoulder stump and the left half of her face plastered in bandages. John winced as he imagined how much losing an arm and an eye would hurt as he pulled out a chair and sat down. "Hi, Vriska!"

Her one eye flicked open at the sound of his voice, focusing on him after a few seconds. "Hey, John! Come to visit me?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Pretty much, yeah. Are you feeling okay?"

A strangled laugh. "Feeling okay? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty great considering my arm's been ripped off and my eye's gone."

"Right, that was kind of a stupid question for me to ask," John grimaced.

"It's okay. Hey, could you do me a favor?" She pushed herself up to a sitting position with her arm, fixing her eye on John.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Can you get me that Magic 8 ball from the table over there? The stupid doctors won't let me out of bed and Terezi accidentally left it there instead of here." She scowled. "Can't really blame her, since she's blind and all."

After retrieving the ball from the table, he turned around to head back to Vriska's bed only to trip over a chair and fall. As he was twisting around to fall in a more favorable position, an unusually violent draft of wind slammed the door shut and sent the curtains surrounding the beds flying in a crazed whirl. Confused, John landed heavily on his back, somehow managing to save the glass ball from breaking.

"John! Are you okay?"

He stood on his feet, rubbing his ribs where he had fallen and looked up, noticing the debris of paperwork and medicine bottles on the floor. "Um, yeah, I'm fine," he answered uncertainly, "But I'm not sure what just happened…?" Stepping over the fallen papers and plastic prescription bottles, he handed Vriska the dark sphere, who took it gleefully.

"Thanks! You're too nice sometimes, you know that?"

He didn't know what to say to that. As far as he knew he had spoken to her all of two times, today included, and he was most certainly _not _'too nice'. In fact, the other day, he had made fun of Dave's sick beats! That made him _mean, _if anything else!

Speaking of Dave…

He jumped up, panicked. "Sorry, Vriska, I just remembered that I promised to rap with Dave at the music room today! I'll visit you tomorrow! Bye!" He waved and sped out the ward.

He was a man on a mission.

**You are now JAKE ENGLISH, and you are EATING LUNCH with your bro-for-life, DIRK STRIDER. Lately he's been dropping OBTUSE HINTS that you are COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS TO, but you don't care because good GOG this food is good.**

Dirk watched him eat with the faintest smirk of amusement on his face. "Slow down there, English. Wouldn't want you to die at a tragic young age from overeating."

Jake rolled his eyes as he continued to shovel food in his mouth. The food on his plate was rapidly diminishing as he chewed and swallowed ravenously. Hash browns and biscuits and sandwiches and even a spot of tea! He suspected that he would be spending a lot of time in the dining hall in the future. "Who are you, my wife? Do shut up, Dirk," he said, gulping down a mouthful of tea. He couldn't figure out what it was, but it tasted absolutely delicious.

He heard Dirk hesitate, as if he were about to say something before the other boy subsided into silence after a "Shutting up."

It had been happening a lot lately, Jake thought idly while his mouth mechanically ground up the food. Dirk would start to say something or pause to say something before changing his mind and becoming as silent as a bloody graveyard. It was unusual and a little unsettling to Jake, who had spent most of his life starting arguments and losing spectacularly to the Strider. Dirk was not the kind to concede that easily.

He sighed. There was something wrong with Dirk Strider and he was going to find out, damnit!

… After he finished eating.

Because holy _shit _the food was good.

**You are now ROSE LALONDE and you are on your way to the LIBRARY. However, you soon walk into the MIDDLE of a SPAT between ERIDAN AMPORA and FEFERI PEIXES.**

"I'm just sayin'! Stay away from that douchebag! He's not good for you, Fef, I'm just tryin' to-" Eridan defended, his voice still wobbling a little when he tried to pronounce his W's. He and Feferi were in the middle of the hallway, shouting at each other with growing volume. Rose thanked Gog that it was a Sunday and that the hallway as well as the classrooms it led into were completely empty.

"Trying to _what, _Eridan? I'm tired of you trying to control my life for me! And there's nothing wrong with Sollux!" yelled Feferi, clearly infuriated. Her fists were clenched as she glared venomously at Eridan for the first time she could remember.

"I'm tryin' to protect you!"

Feferi scoffed, a corrosive anger flaring up in her eyes. "Like hell you are! I am SICK of you always being such a glubbing JERK and scaring off all of our friends!"

Rose raised an eyebrow. The two were so absorbed in their yelling match that they hadn't even noticed her standing two feet away from them. She sensed a strange hesitance in Feferi's words, as if they weren't what she had truly wanted to say, as if she was hiding something deeper that she did not want to let loose for fear of losing herself and her control.

"Look, just stay away from Sollux, Fef-"

"_Why should I?" _

Rose was about eighty percent sure that Feferi was losing it. For a brief moment, she considered intervening, but Eridan cut ahead.

"Because he fuckin' likes Aradia already! You're just gonna get your heart broken!"

The fury in Feferi's face melted away, leaving a bewildered, terribly hurt expression that made even Rose cringe internally. Feferi's chin began to quiver as she fought to hold back the tears. Eridan saw her glimmering eyes and immediately knew that he was in the deepest shit Gog ever did create. "No, Fef, that's not what I- I mean, it's not-"

Feferi looked as if she were about to faint.

"If I may interrupt?"

Both of them turned and took a step backwards, surprised to see her so close. Eridan recovered first, demanding, "What are you doin'?"

"I have been observing for quite a while now, but you were too engrossed in your argument to notice." She kept calm, not wanting to provoke him further. Feferi pressed a fist to her mouth, eyes squeezing shut.

His eyes narrowed behind his glasses as if he could sense the therapist behind the voice. "I don't need your fuckin' counselin'!" He spun around and stomped away, frustration hanging around him like a dark and ominous cloud. She watched him go until a small squeak brought her attention back to Feferi.

Feferi released the breath she had been holding and with it, the flood of tears. Brine cascaded down her cheeks as she broke down and began sobbing, small wails at first that rapidly escalated in intensity until she was crying uncontrollably, her gasps and shudders echoing in the deserted hall. Her knees collapsed and then she was on the floor, kneeling, her thin frame shaking with the force of her dismay.

Rose knelt down and put her arms around the distraught girl, surprising even herself. She wasn't sure what compelled her to do so. Only the suspicion that there was a greater reason besides heartbreak to Feferi's crying kept her there, rocking back and forth until the girl quieted down. She kept hugging her, murmuring soft, comforting words in the Pisce's ear until her sobbing was reduced to sniffles and hiccups.

Still, Feferi was obviously in no fit condition to speak. Rose released her and sat next to her, thinking. While screaming at Eridan, she clearly still had an unvoiced complaint about the boy but was too afraid to say it.

Rose knew that while Sollux's affection for Aradia was certainly part of the problem, it was a small part in retrospect. The entire time, one thing had stood out, more blatant than the rest.

Eridan was infatuated with Feferi.

Or was he in love? She didn't have too firm a grasp on his personality. But she saw it in the desperate look of his eyes as he tried to backtrack, the way his face twisted when he spat out Sollux's name, and his body language; defensive but protective at the same time.

What an interesting case.

"I… I can't deal with it anymore." The voice was small and tremulous, hiccups punctuating the sentence. "I can't deal with _him._"

Rose smiled encouragingly, brushing a few strands of tear-soaked hair out of Feferi's face. "Why is that?"

"He's just… he's just so glubbing _overbearing _and gets mad whenever I try to-" Here, Feferi shuddered involuntarily, unable to speak for a few seconds.

The blonde shifted into a more comfortable position. She was the therapist and there was a very upset patient in her office.

**You are now ARADIA MEGIDO and it is about SIX in the afternoon. You have just opened the door to a very upset FEFERI.**

She had been crying, that much was apparent. Her face was still a little damp, her eyes were swollen and red, and the occasional sniffle escaped from her every now and then.

Aradia sat her down on her bed and then parked her own rear end next to her. "Is something the matter, Feferi?"

Feferi looked up at her, eyes beginning to water again. "Oh, well…" She hiccuped and rubbed her eyes. "It's… I had a fight with Eridan and Rose talked to me about it, but…"

"A fight? That's… unusual."

A weak smile. "Well, not anymore. Lately he's been so moody that we've been arguing a lot. I don't…"

Aradia got up silently to retrieve a bottle of water. Handing it to Feferi, she sat down on the opposite bed and looked questioningly at the girl. "Do you feel lost?"

"Oh… I guess you could say that." She hunched her shoulders. "I feel awful now. He needs me, but I…"

"Eridan is a sixteen year old boy," Aradia remarked tonelessly. "I would think that letting him be dependent is a good thing."

Another watery smile that was more of a grimace. "I need him, too, though. Or at least, I.. I thought I did. My entire life, we.."

"You don't have to explain if you don't want to," she said gently, reaching forward and patting Feferi's head. "You did not come here to talk. Am I right?"

"I don't know why I'm here." The words carried a subtle undertone that most people would have missed. Aradia dismissed it.

"Well, while you're here… I was preparing to watch the DVDs of my favorite TV show. Would you like to join me?"

Feferi nodded, pushing her hair away from her face and curling up on Aradia's bed. When Aradia returned with the boxed set of DVDs and popped in the first, they sat there in silence watching, Feferi breaking out into smiles or even hesitant giggles as the show progressed.

"Aradia?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"There is no need. After all, what are friends for?"

**You don't know why FEFERI came to you and you are aware that she still has some HIDDEN WORRIES that she hasn't revealed to anybody. You sit next to her as you watch the TV SHOW, hoping that she can get her mind off the heavy matters and focus on LIGHTER ONES, if only for a few hours.**

**You wonder why you are doing this. You never used to feel sympathy for anybody. You never used to feel anything, if you're being honest. You are confused, but you think it's a nice change from having to PRETEND to CARE.**

* * *

****A/N: The beginning [and John and Jake and Dirk and Vriska] was super-awkward to write, I'm not sure why. But when I got to Eridan and Feferi, it instantly got easier, even though it was probably really off. WEIRD.

FINALS NEXT WEEK

Jegus, high school, why do you have to put finals on the LAST week of school?

And then I wrote out the outlines for chapters 11 and 12 as well. Yippee kay yay.

Let's just ignore my asinine ramblings, shall we? Ha...haha.


	7. Sugarless Sweetener

**Your name is ERIDAN AMPORA and you are SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD. You are the HEAD of AQUARIUS HOUSE and you have a little bit of a SUPERIORITY COMPLEX. However, your INABILITY to correctly pronounce your w's and v's leave you a LITTLE BIT INSECURE. You have spent most of your life with FEFERI PEIXES, but lately you have been getting into a LOT of FIGHTS. The fact that you've been having DISTURBING NIGHTMARES that involve YOU MURDERING HER doesn't help, either.**

_Honk._

Eridan wasn't sure where his feelings began or ended, they kind of just… mixed together in a cauldron of simmering hate and passion. He honestly tried to be sweet with her, but every morning, he woke up drenched in cold fear after watching himself kill her - again. The nightmares always spurred him to try and protect her, but she thought that he was 'overbearing' and 'controlling'.

He guessed he couldn't quite blame her. Though he was loathe to admit it on the surface, he'd always known on the inside that the only thing she would ever need protection from was himself. He hurt her, he stomped on her feelings, he prevented her from having a normal life. Excluding the fact that going to Alternia Academy instantaneously made you an outcast from acceptable society.

One part of him insisted that he _was _protecting her, that he didn't want to see her get hurt.

But the honest side of him whispered in his ear, told him what he already knew. It hissed that he was the reason why she'd spent so many nights crying, he was what made her life miserable, he and his stupid, simpering dependence on his best friend.

And who was he trying to convince when he said he was doing his best to protect her? How could a hungry rattlesnake protect its victim from itself?

He couldn't accept it. He just couldn't. He tended to shove his blame on other people when it was clearly his and-

No, it wasn't his fault, it wasn't his fault, it wasn't his fault, he had just wanted to help his best friend, but why? Why wouldn't the nightmares stop coming?

He was being driven insane, batshit crazy, off the fucking wall, seeing all of the fucked up ways he'd managed to kill Feferi in his dreams. Blood flew everywhere like fucking tsunamis as one night after another he relived the murder a different way; blasting a hole through her chest, chopping off her head, impaling her through the stomach, strangling her, slicing her in half, and beating her to death.

It was almost as if he could feel the hot stickiness on his hands, spattering on his face as his body ripped her apart. His mind supplied her agonized facial expressions with disturbing accuracy. It only served to remind him that he knew it so well because he so often caused it to appear on her face with his words and his actions.

He was afraid that one day he might end up actually doing it.

The thought horrified him.

How could he even think about killing his best friend, the only person he loved? Yet every night, without fail, for the past week, he had been doing it in ways that seemed sick and twisted even to him.

_HONK._

He was so… unbearably tired and he just… wanted to go to sleep.

But sleep was where the nightmares prowled. And he did not want to go down that road again.

**You are now ROXY LALONDE and you are SOBER for the FIRST TIME in MONTHS.**

She walked around her room, a little amazed at how much easier everything was when she wasn't drunk out of her mind. Her stomach growled noisily, reminding her that she hadn't eaten all day, and she decided to go pay a visit to the dining hall.

_Honk._

Was somebody watching a clown sitcom? The noise was faint but still distinct, and lately it had been popping up everywhere.

Maybe it was just another withdrawal effect. She ground her teeth to keep it together and replayed all of the health lectures both Rose and Dirk had given her over the years. _Alcohol is bad for you, it damages your liver and blah blah blah blaah._

Except the 'blah's were usually long words she couldn't make out in her inebriated stupor.

"Roxy!" Turning around, she saw Jade skipping over to join her.

"Hey," Roxy greeted, catching Jade's hi-five.

Jade smiled widely. "Hi, Roxy!" She tilted her head. "You seem… more serious than usual! What's wrong?"

A sarcastic scoff. "I'm sober, darling. Sober as Dirk on a Monday morning." She reconsidered. "Or any morning."

She clapped her hands together, green eyes gleeful. "That's awesome! Hey, let's go get a congratulations lunch for your newfound sobriety?"

"Sounds about right, I'm starving," she agreed, and the two continued to the dining hall. Roxy marveled once again when she saw that she could actually walk in a straight line and look ahead without her vision swirling around like one of those picture-effects.

When they had gotten there and their food, Jade pulled out a chair at a small table for Roxy and then sat down in her own. Roxy sipped her box of grape juice thoughtfully [it looked like wine and was kind of similar, she guessed?].

"So, has there been something wrong with Dirk lately?"

"What?" Had there been something wrong with him? She hadn't seen much of him since the first day or two.

Jade shifted in her seat, munching on a scone. She swallowed and continued, "Jake says that Dirk hasn't been himself lately! So I was wondering if you knew anything about it!"

Roxy sat back, thinking. Well, of course there _was _something she knew would make Dirk 'not himself', but _lately_? Another thought occurred to her. Was he about to _make a romantic move on J_- "Oh… that! Yeah, uh… Dirk just… hasn't had enough orange soda! It's a shame they don't have any here. Private schools and their healthy diets," she laughed, trying to hide the awkwardness in it.

"Really? I didn't think Dirk would really mind that kind of thing," remarked Jade, but she seemed to buy into it and kept eating without asking another question.

Roxy grimaced while Jade wasn't looking. Gog, she handled situations like that better when she was _drunk _than when she was sober. In her head, she berated Dirk for his inability to man up and _confess _to his love. The other half of her brain wanted to scold the object of his affections for being so _damn clueless._

She hoped Dirk would get his man-grit on. Soon.

Sometimes, she thought that she was the man of the twins, rather than Dirk. He was cool but was completely unable to do things when they mattered. Yes, this was a subject of utmost IMPORTANCE and he needed to HURRY UP and DO IT.

Or she would take this very delicious chocolate chip muffin and give him a brutal smackdown with it.

If it didn't taste so good.

Because holy SHIT this food was good.

**You are now JANE CROCKER and you are WALKING to the HOSPITAL WARD with a plate of FRESHLY BAKED COOKIES.**

They smelled wonderful, she thought regretfully as she held the warm plate. Chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles smelled absolutely delightful.

She was visiting Vriska, hoping that the cookies would give a lift to her mood. Cookies made everybody happy. They were the universal unifier of peace.

And there was just one trepidation lurking in her mind as she continued on.

She _really _hoped she didn't run into Gamzee.

_HONK._

So she skulked down the halls, taking long detours that often got her lost until she arrived, nerves on edge, at the nurse's office/hospital.

A huge sigh of relief escaped her when she saw only Vriska in the ward, playing with… pieces of glass? Vriska looked up and saw her. "Heeeeeeeey, Jane! Come to visit little old me?"

Jane laughed and plopped the plate of cookies on Vriska's blanket-covered lap. "Hope you like cookies. Better eat them while they're hot!"

Vriska cracked a grin. "Thanks, Jane. You're just like your brother, you know that? Way too nice."

Well, she could understand John being too nice. But her on the other hand? She had taken twenty minutes when it would normally would have taken five just to avoid Gamzee. She wouldn't really consider that 'nice'.

"Oh, don't worry about it," she brushed it off and sat next to her. "How bored do you get in here?"

Her Head scowled in the middle of eating a cookie. "It's not even funny how little there is to do in here," she said. "You just watch the doctors scurry around like little ants while they feed you some overdose of barbiturates."

Jane giggled. "That sounds terrible!"

"It is," Vriska agreed. "And these cookies…"

"How are they?"

"You have no idea how tempted I am to say 'they're bad'. But they're just too great! They're delicious!" Vriska bit into another one, her canines sharp and white.

Jane smiled and talked with Vriska for a little while. Vriska could be mean, sadistic, cruel, but oddly enough she was funny and sympathetic at the same time. She wasn't really sure why she liked her so much, to be honest.

**You are JANE CROCKER and you have just ENJOYED a GAMZEE-FREE HOUR in the HOSPITAL WARD with VRISKA SERKET.**

In another life, she could have been an assassin or something, the way she slid through shadows in order to avoid being seen by anybody.

Specifically Gamzee.

_Honk._

Where was that thrice-darned honking noise coming from? It somehow reminded her of Gamzee, which was in turn getting her metaphorical panties in a figurative twist.

She made it to her room safely, all but sprinting the last few yards before locking the door and sighing and turning around.

"Sup, motherfucker." She froze, a scream rising in her throat as she forced herself to turn around and…

"Dirk, you-"

DIrk was sitting on the bed, absentmindedly toying with his phone. "Hey, Jane. Were you afraid?"

"How did you get your voice to- oh my Gog, you-" She was too shocked to respond coherently, her breath coming in gasps and her heart racing like a horse. "You scared me half to _death, _Strider!"

A smirk. But it was a more hesitant smirk than usual, the ends of his lips quivering a bit. "It's funny to think what you would have done if Gamzee was actually in your room."

Suspicion rose in Jane. "Is he?"

"Do you really think I would be hiding a juggalo in your room, Jane?"

"It's you, anything is plausible," she commented, collapsing on her bed next to Dirk. "Maybe you should build me a robot body guard. Or a robot Gamzee-guard."

"Funny you should mention that," Dirk said flatly. "I _have _been thinking about it. Do you like rabbits?"

Jane was caught off guard. "What?"

"I'm asking if you like bunnies, Jane." His tone was bored as he fiddled around with some program on his phone.

"Uh, well, yes, I like bunnies?"

"Okay." He didn't say anything else, just swung his long legs off the bed and sauntered towards the door. As he exited and the door swung closed, his voce floated back towards her. "Better check in your closet. Or don't, it'll just sneak up on you in your sleep instead."

"Wait. What?"

But he was gone, and Jane knew that if she opened the door, Dirk would be nowhere in sight. A chill ran down her spine as she eyed the closet apprehensively.

He hadn't exactly said no when she'd asked if he was hiding a juggalo in her room…

_Now or in the middle of the night while you're sleeping, Jane._

Summoning all of her courage, she threw open the door, preparing to see the terrifying face that had haunted her for the-

It was a rabbit.

A rabbit… made of metal?

A robot bunny. With a sword. It waved its arms around, metal joints moving perfectly and smoothly without a sound or any friction.

She let out a deep sigh and smiled, picking up the little bunny. It was so well built, she marveled, running a finger down the smooth metal. She would have to thank Dirk later.

It was an absolutely delightful gift.

* * *

A/N: One fish, two fish, _red fish, blue fish.._

__Woke up at four to do my AP Book Report, ended up doing this instead. Damnit. Just one more week of school [all finals though] and I am free! The weekend's coming up, too, so that should give me some more writing time.

This chapter took a long time to write, because if I start doing dialogue, the whole thing becomes dialogue and if I do monologue, the entire thing is monologue as well.

Mreh.

Thank you for reading! Especially DML (: I actually love your penname, it's adorable! Or maybe I'm just deranged...


	8. Hit the Pause Button

**You are JADE HARLEY and you are VERY EXCITED. It is SUNDAY NIGHT and you have JUST RETURNED from an ASSEMBLY where the HEADMASTER informed you of an EXCITING TRIP to the MAINLAND.**

"I can't wait!" Jade squealed, bouncing up and down on her bed in her pajamas. She'd already showered and made sure that her uniform was hanging in the closet for tomorrow. Smiling, she peeled off the dark blue rubber band and dropped it on the dresser next to her bed.

"It seems like an excuse for the girls to shop until they collapse from exhaustion," Rose remarked, not looking up from her thick psychology textbook. Turning a page, she continued, "I suppose it's quite similar to 'prom dress shopping', then?"

"Oh, yeah, it's because of the Autumn Ball, right?"

"I would presume so," nodded Rose as her eyes roved over the page of tiny text and pictures. "Do you have the paper with you?"

Jade scrunched up her nose, confused. "What paper?"

Rose heaved a sigh and closed her book after sticking a bookmark in it. She reached over and dragged a thick packet of paper towards her, tossing it to Jade.

Jade scanned the first paragraph and brightened up. "So the trip is October 6th through 12th and the dance is October 27th?" She didn't wait for an answer but fell back on her bed and began reading through the stapled sheaf of instructions and details.

They were going to Los Angeles, California for a whole week! There were pages upon pages on what to bring, what _not _to bring, where they would be sightseeing, what hotel they were to be staying in, the shops they would visit, maps of the area and overall information on the trip. It was a little overwhelming, but filled her with anticipation at the same time.

And there was only one more week until the trip!

She grinned and rolled around on her bed, mussing her blankets and denting her pillows. "I'm so excited!" she sang, stretching her arms and pointing her fingertips towards the ceiling. She let her arms fall and giggled uncontrollably for a few minutes before she had to cut herself off. Her narcolepsy often made her sleep when she laughed too hard or experienced an intense emotion, which was a little inconvenient because Jade was always happy and always laughing.

Always.

"Go to bed, Jade. Classes begin tomorrow." Rose put away her hefty book and flicked off the lights, sliding into bed herself and pulling the sheets over her thin shoulders.

"Okay! Good night, Rose!" Jade snuggled inside her blankets and curled up, falling asleep quickly and spiraling into her dreams.

**Your name is DIRK STRIDER and you are SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD. You like PUPPETS and BUILDING ROBOTS. You are in love with a CERTAIN BESPECTACLED BLACK-HAIRED YOUTH but have yet to confess. Today is the FIRST DAY of CLASSES at your NEW SCHOOL and you are READY.**

Taking a second to examine his reflection in the mirror, he ran a hand through his hair and twitched his tie a little, just to make sure it looked right. He turned away and picked up his books in one hand, his other arm by his side and left the room.

Dirk's first class was Calculus B/C, which was on the other side of the campus from his dorm. He sauntered through hallways, slipping in between sleepy students stumbling to their first periods as well. When he arrived at the door, he pushed through it without hesitation and nodded casually to the teacher, who pointed out an empty seat for him to park his elegant ass on.

After the first ten minutes of class, Dirk was absolutely sure of it.

Math was boring as fuck.

He zoned out rapidly, coming back to attention every few minutes when he thought the teacher might be looking at him. Occasionally a cough or a sneeze [and its accompanying chorus of 'bless you's] snapped him back into reality. The next hour passed by so slowly it was almost painful in the monotonous wake of boredom it left behind.

The instant the bell rang at the end of class, Dirk was out the door and on the way to his next class, Rhetorics. He was certain that the only thing that he was looking forward to was lunch or possibly having a class with J-

Were there fucking ninjas having a war in his stomach or something? It was behaving like a stereotypical teenage girl in a cliche romance novel for other stereotypical teenage girls. He supposed it could be considered ironic.

_Just don't think about it._

**You are JANE CROCKER and you are STARTING TO HATE THIS SCHOOL.**

It was only the first day of school.

It was only the second period of the first day of school.

But she could feel the aneurysm coming.

And the reason was a certain boy in the back of the room.

"Hey, sis," Gamzee waved lazily, that Gogdamn stupidass smile on his makeup-less face. "You in this class? Motherfuckin' miracle, isn't it?"

Oh, how her eye twitched as she fought down the urge to whack him with a large, heavy spoon. Forcing down her emotions, she answered, "Oh, hi, Gamzee… I guess we have French together, then?" She laughed weakly, inwardly shuddering and praying that her heart would hold out for the rest of the school term.

Her overriding desire at the moment was to get a seat _as far as fucking possible _from Gamzee. The teacher raised her perfectly-plucked eyebrows when Jane begged for a seat in the front, the desperation in her voice extremely apparent.

"There aren't any empty seats in the front," she informed her. "Why don't you take a seat in the back? I think there's one next to Gamzee."

"Uh, okay." Jane tried to smile at the teacher but failed miserably and turned away, inwardly cursing life. She dragged herself over to the seat next to Gamzee and dumped her bag on it, scooting away as far as the seat would allow her. Gog, her heart was threatening to give out on her. He was _right there_ and he was scaring the shit out of her. She couldn't even remember why she was so terrified beyond the fact that he was creepy as hell. Anxiety and nervousness built up in her stomach until she was squirming in the chair, praying that the class period would end soon.

She thought of the robot bunny Dirk had built her. If only she'd kept it with her instead of shutting it in the closet, then she could have-

Could have what? It was rather ludicrous to think that a mechanical rabbit with a miniature sword could fend off Gamzee or any other assailant for that matter. She had to give it points for its cuteness, though. It had spent yesterday night scurrying around, whirling the little weapon like a professional as it bounced up and down her dorm room.

Class started and the teacher began a lecture on the correct use of past tense. Jane wrote the words down as the professor said them, making a list of every verb that utilized 'etre' instead of 'avoir'. Next to her, Gamzee looked completely out of it, staring at the ceiling with his dark blue eyes. She hated to admit it, but he had really pretty eyes. Now that she thought of it, it really wasn't fair that he was so good-looking underneath the clown make-up.

"And so, when you have a verb like 'jouer', pair it with 'avoir', but make sure to operate on the 'avoir'," the teacher said. "So for 'je', you would turn it into 'J'ai joue', but put an accent on the 'e'. Now, that doesn't mean 'I have play', it just means 'I played'…"

Jane resumed taking notes, straining to ignore Gamzee.

Why did he have to be so close? Why did schools place desks eight inches apart from each other? Especially private schools. Gog, if they could have a kitchen bigger than a gym then they could afford to space out the desks.

She inhaled deeply and let it out in a long sigh. It was going to be the longest school year Gog ever did make. She could only hope that the trip to California would allow her to escape Gamzee for the week.

Although, knowing her luck, if she could avoid him, it would be a miracle.

No, not a miracle because that was practically inviting Gamzee to come and invade her thoughts. She couldn't think of an adequate synonym for the word 'miracle' and settled for 'answered prayer'.

But to have her prayer answered she would have to pray first.

**You are now JAKE ENGLISH and you are having a JOLLY GOOD TIME in your THIRD PERIOD CLASS, which is ECONOMICS.**

They hadn't done anything all period but joke around while the teacher played an informational video about inflation. Roxy, who was sober for the first time in… well, he couldn't quite remember the last time she had been sober, to be honest, was watching the film quietly, the usual alcohol-induced flush absent from her pale cheeks. It was unlike her, he thought, and he prodded her in the side.

"Are you quite alright?" he whispered, although he knew that the talking around them would probably drown him out. Roxy had heard him, though, and turned her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She dismissed his concern with a shake of her head. "I'm just thinking." He couldn't get used to how clear her voice was without the slurring.

"Wouldn't want to interrupt that," he chuckled and sat back. Maybe this was just how she was when she wasn't inebriated? She did seem worried, but it was an external sort of worry, as if she were worried for somebody else.

The teacher hushed them, silencing the chattering for a few seconds before it started up again, the video becoming background noise to the talking. Jake twiddled his thumbs for a few minutes, thoughts wandering off until he was flat-out daydreaming.

He didn't even hear the bell and sat in his seat until Roxy poked him and stole his bag. "Hey!" he called, a bit startled as he scooped up his notebooks and ran after her in pursuit.

**You are now JADE HARLEY and you have decided that you LOVE THIS SCHOOL.**

Biology had always been one of her favorite subjects, and Alternia's Biology course was especially scintillating. The professor was energetic and lively, leading the class through chapters with interactive activities and videos. They were currently having a contest to see who could decipher the most amino acid codons. Jade ran her finger down the chart, looking for C… then C… then G…

She raised her hand and waved it around, successfully catching her teacher's attention. "Proline," she said, receiving a nod of approval. Giggling, she went back to work, running her eyes around the chart to decipher CAT.

The teacher came back when he saw that she had finished again. "Histidine for CAT," she told him. "And threonine for ACT."

She plowed through the codes rapidly until none were left and Jade was the clear winner. "And the grand prize for Jade Harley is…" the teacher announced dramatically, "A free pass for when we begin dissecting frogs!"

She took it, thanking him gratefully. Jade adored frogs and was relieved that she didn't have to slice open their corpses to inspect their internal organs. She could always look it up in her textbook if she ever needed for some reason to study frogs, right?

Tavros, who had been sitting next to her, looked at her with wide brown eyes. "Wow, you're, uh, really good at that," he stuttered.

"Thanks!" She smiled widely at him, causing him to look away shyly. He was really timid and she didn't want to scare him off, so she lessened the grin a little bit.

"Oh, uh, no problem," he replied, stacking the charts in the middle of their table. Jade wiggled her feet and giggled as the teacher came by to collect them.

Fun classes, new friends, an upcoming field trip and a dance! "Oh, I love school," she murmured happily, her eyes drifting to the clock as it ticked.

* * *

A/N: Wow, this is a really choppy chapter. I don't even-

-le sigh- It took forever. Mainly because I was studying for theory and math exams, but still... I feel like I should have written more D:

and thank you for reading/reviewing! I love you (: my love for you is cascading down like a waterfall. Of love :3

It's only 10 at night and I'm really really sleepy. I think that accounts for why this chapter's so weird...


	9. Butterfly Trills

**You are ARADIA MEGIDO and you are currently ON A PLANE headed to LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.**

To her right was Sollux, who was leaning against the window, lost in thought. Aradia glanced at him before returning her gaze to the small television embedded in the seat in front of her. It was playing some documentary about alligators. Headphones lay on the armrest, but she ignored them and stared at the screen, watching as the scaly reptiles crawled around some sort of bayou.

She was seated in the front, along with the other twelve Heads. Across the aisle, Karkat and Terezi were fast asleep, leaning against each other. She had to admit that the two were rather cute. Taking out her camera, she snapped a quick photo of them before stowing it back in her carry-on bag. When they finally announced their relationship, she would give it to them as an anniversary gift, she decided, smiling a little bit. The motion felt stiff on her face, and she wondered when the last time she had really smiled or laughed was.

The fact that she couldn't remember worried her.

In front of her, Tavros twisted around and peeked at Aradia through the small gaps between the chairs. "Hey, uh, Aradia," he whispered, not wanting to wake up Gamzee, who was completely passed out next to him. "When do you, uh, think we'll get there?"

The flight had promised to be nine hours, and they'd boarded at three in the morning. It was currently eight. "About four more hours," she told him complacently, nodding when he thanked her.

Four hours was a long, long time when you couldn't fall asleep, though.

Sollux shifted beside her and pulled out his laptop, starting it up. After a few minutes, he opened up a program and his fingers began to dance over the keys, as fast and as elegant as a pianist's. She stared, fascinated, for a minute or two before he looked up and caught her glance. "You bored?"

"Yeah," she said, wondering how he kept on coding even without looking at the keyboard. "Just four more hours until we get there, though."

"I'm already thuffering from jet lag," he snorted as he tapped out a long sequence of numbers and symbols. "Jeguth, I hope thith trip ith worth it."

She nodded in agreement and kept watching his fingers fly throughout the flight.

**You are now JAKE ENGLISH and you have JUST WOKEN UP from a NICE and RELAXING NAP on the AIRPLANE.**

Next to him was Dirk, who had completely conked out and was now leaning against Jake, who didn't mind in the least. He toyed with the thought of stealing the Strider's sunglasses for a few seconds before remembering that Dirk would most likely kill him in his sleep with a Smuppet.

Ungodly things, those. He'd spent one afternoon in the Strider residence, alone with Dave.

Those hours had been enough for Jake to consider himself educated on the matter of Smuppets in all of their glorious horror.

Dismissing the lingering whisper of _Smuppets, _Jake tweaked Dirk's glasses, his fingers fidgeting on the edge of the frame with the itch to take the shades off.

What color were Dirk's eyes? He had never really thought about it, but then again, he had never been stuck on a plane for nine hours straight and thus had not experienced the suffocating boredom that accompanied the ride.

Dirk would murder him with a fluffy Smuppet arse if Jake ever dared to take the sacred artifacts of ironicalness off of his face.

But then again, this was quite possibly the only chance he would get, the only time Strider was ever off-guard…

He slid the triangular shades off gingerly, trying not to wake the other boy up. After a few minutes of tense, excruciatingly tedious anime-shade-sliding, he had the darn things off and in his hands. Dirk's eyelids quivered for a few seconds before settling still again. And now that the black triangles were no longer obscuring his eyes, the blond's face was completely out in the open, with nothing protecting it from the outside world.

The first thing Jake noticed was his eyelashes. They were just as strawberry-blond as his hair, and ridiculously long and thick, but for some reason did not make him look feminine. Twisting around to get a better look at Dirk's face, Jake tilted his head and studied it. It was much-more innocent looking without the shades, a tad childlike, but with the stubborn, stand-offish maturity that adorned both Dave and Dirk's faces. His skin was pale but still had a healthy peach undertone, which contrasted sharply with Jake's tanned brown forearm as he waved his hand over Dirk's face.

Apparently minuscule puffs of air were enough to wake the Striders, because Dirk's eyes shot open and _oh my Lord-_

His eyes.

He was semi-aware of the fact that he was staring like a blasted idiot at his face, but he couldn't help it. He barely caught the swearword hissed in an undertone as Dirk shut his eyes, jerked away, and groped around for his shades, a barely controlled panic spreading across his face when he realized he couldn't find him.

Jake sat back, still gaping. Dirk's eyes… oh Gog, Dirk's eyes…

They were a brilliant, piercing _orange. _The color of island sunsets and sour citrus and molten gold.

And they were absolutely beautiful.

"Now, why would you keep _those _covered up, Dirk?" he finally managed to say, still staring at Dirk's closed-off face.

"Shut it, English. I don't know what you're talking about. Now give me my fucking shades back." Dirk took the proffered sunglasses and flicked them onto his face, quickly regaining his cool. "Why."

It wasn't even a question anymore. "Because I wanted to see the rest of your face," Jake answered, a little confused. He couldn't quite manage to understand why Dirk was so angry about his eyes and gestured towards them. "And your eyes are-"

Dirk recoiled almost reflexively, batting away the outstretched hand. "Damn it, Jake," he hissed, still angry. But the anger was draining away as he realized that Jake wasn't disgusted or scared, but rather fascinated. He sighed and shifted into a more comfortable position. The tension in his body slowly faded as Dirk relaxed into his seat, his face as emotionless as ever.

After a few minutes of a very motionless Dirk, Jake concluded that he had tried to fall asleep again and let the issue go.

He checked his cell phone. Nine-thirty.

Two and a half more hours to go.

**You are now JANE CROCKER and you are trying to PREVENT a certain blonde LALONDE from drinking her ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE.**

"Roxy, no. You finally got sober and I am _not _allowing you to get drunk again, and on a plane, no less!" Jane held the beer out of Roxy's reach, nearly falling into the aisle. "Rose!"

Roxy's younger sister glanced up from her book and raised an eyebrow. "I do hope you aren't encouraging me to partake in intoxication, Jane," she said in a monotone. Nevertheless, she took the can and immediately stuffed it under Dave's chair, ignoring Dave's muttered ramblings as she did so.

The older Lalonde pouted. "Jaaaaaane!" Her lower lip stuck out and her eyes widened dramatically, assailing Jane with bright pink eyes that begged and pleaded. She'd never been able to get over how stunning the Strider/Lalonde group's eyes were. Was it even humanly possible to have bright pink or purple eyes?

"No," Jane told her firmly, shooshing her until Roxy huffed and slouched back into her seat sullenly. "How did you even get the flight attendant to give you beer, anyway?"

"She didn't really give a fuck," yawned Roxy, combing through her blonde hair. "Asked me if I wanted a drink and she gave it to me. Flighty attendants."

They both took a moment to snigger at the terrible pun Roxy had made.

"But you're sober and you're staying that way," scolded the black-haired girl, discreetly checking the time on her phone. "And we only have an hour left until we get to LAX."

With an exaggerated, drawn out sigh, Roxy switched the channel on the small TV screen and plugged in the earphones, eyes focused on the cartoon that was now playing.

Jane stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, marveling at how unbelievably bored she was. After sleeping the first six hours, she'd woken up and now had absolutely nothing to do. After all, a plane was hardly an adequate place to bake…

**You are now JOHN EGBERT and you are VERY SORE.**

He stretched gingerly, not wanting to wake up his cousin. Jade was sleeping again, her eyes shut and her lips partially open. A few minutes prior, the captain had announced over the intercom that they would be landing shortly. He supposed he would have to wake Jade up sooner or later in the next ten minutes or so.

Around him, the students of Alternia Academy were fidgeting as well. They had split up onto two or three planes, which would arrive at about the same time as each other. Thank Gog for that.

He felt his ears pop and realized that they were coming down. Soon after, a rough jolt hit him as the plane touched the ground and rolled into the hangar, vibrating as it crunched over the gravel runway. He poked Jade. "Jade, wake up, we're landing," he said, waiting for her to open her eyes.

"Really?" she asked happily. "Finally!"

With stiff limbs and much stretching, the occupants of the plane stepped out of the plane and into the airport. The inside of the terminal was bustling, with seats stretching across the room and what looked like a miniature mall beyond the rows of chairs. The scent of food wafted over to them and John felt his stomach growl. "Man, I'm really hungry," he said, sniffing the air.

"So am I," Dave said, materializing next to him. John jumped, a little startled.

"Jegus, Dave, how did you get there?" John sputtered.

Dave raised a pale eyebrow. "Shenanigans."

Once everybody had exited the plane and was in the terminal, Karkat yelled at the wandering students until they had formed into one mass of people. He and the other five Heads [Eridan, Equius, Nepeta, Feferi, Kanaya, and Vriska were on the other plane] led the students farther into the terminal to retrieve their luggage.

When they had successfully done so, albeit with copious amounts of jostling and arguing, they waited outside for a few minutes before the separated half of Alternia came pouring in.

The difficult part was getting them and their luggage to fit on four buses.

John sat at the window of the second bus, staring out the window as it clanked its way to their hotel. Los Angeles was…

"One ugly shithole," Dave supplied from beside John.

John, although usually a positive person, had to agree.

Graffiti defaced half of the faded brick walls they saw, trash littered street corners and the general city was just plain _ugly. _In the distance he could see the famous skyscrapers and glittering glass buildings, but the area they were in was about as ghetto as ghetto could get.

They soon pulled into the more attractive part of L.A., though, the only part that was portrayed in media. Weaving around afternoon traffic, John's bus stopped in front of a reasonably pretty hotel and the whole armada proceeded to get off.

Spanish Armada. Alternian Armada.

John decided that the Alternian Armada sounded much, much better than the Spanish Armada.

**Your name is KANAYA MARYAM and you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. You LOVE to DESIGN AND MAKE CLOTHES and you are the HEAD of VIRGO HOUSE. You have just LEFT your HOTEL ROOM and you are now on a SHOPPING SPREE with your FEMALE FRIENDS.**

Vriska was well enough to travel, though she attracted plenty of curious looks due to her missing arm and the patch over her glasses. She had recovered almost completely, bouncing back to her old snarky self.

They were inside a boutique, browsing through a seemingly endless selection of fancy dresses. Kanaya pursed her lips as she studied an elegant black ensemble. It was really the classic 'little black dress' that was so often utilized in fashion magazines. She hung it back onto the rack, deciding that it was a little too plain for her liking.

To her right, Vriska was studying a floaty white dress with layers of tulle and silk. Cerulean blue markings swirled on the front, stopping at the waist, where a narrow satin ribbon of the same color hung, meant to be tied in the back. "What do you think, Kanaya?" she asked, contemplating. It barely brushed her knees. The skirt of the dress was layered into what resembled white flower petals, a little jagged but the overall effect was quite pleasing.

"It's a fairy dress!" Nepeta squealed with a cat-like smile. "I think it looks purr-fect, Vriskers!"

"It's lovely," Kanaya said. "You found your dress rather fast, Vriska."

Vriska flashed her white teeth. "You think so too, huh? I guess I'll get it, then." She wasn't too concerned about whether it was her size or not; if she needed it fixed, she knew that Kanaya would be more than happy to oblige.

Kanaya drifted over to Feferi, who looked a little torn. "Help, Kanaya!" Feferi was holding up two dresses - one a fuchsia confection with a long, flowy skirt, the other a more practical-looking dress with a black top and a bright blue and green ruffled skirt.

Thinking over it for a little, she said, "If you cannot decide, I suggest you look for a new one. Besides, I feel that they are a little too simple for you, Feferi."

Feferi put the hangers back. "Really? Alright then."

She enjoyed being the fashion consultant and spent the next hour helping her friends find their dresses. However, by the end of the hour, she herself had not yet found one.

"What about you, Kanaya?" Terezi asked after sniffing the teal silk of her purchase.

Kanaya thought about it for a few seconds. She doubted that the stores would have would she wanted; after all, she had just spent an hour looking through hundreds of dresses and had not seen one that she was particularly fond of. "I suppose I will just have to make my own."

Aradia nodded impassively. "Knowing you, I'm sure it'll be spectacular." Her voice wasn't sarcastic, rather, Kanaya detected that Aradia truly meant the compliment and thanked her.

"And now, it is time to go look for shoes." The six filed out of the shop, chatting amongst themselves cheerfully.

City of Angels indeed. Kanaya felt as if she were in heaven.

* * *

A/N: Well, yesterday was the last day of school. Went to my brother's graduation & stuffs. It didn't really feel like it, though. Woke up this morning at 8 and I was like "I'm late for school."

But of course there was no school.

Anyway, this chapter was weird. The first part was hella difficult to write, but the Jake & Dirk thing was ludicrously easy. And the whole shopping thing did not blow over well.

Mreh.

Thank you for reading! I hope this chapter isn't too screwed over...

and to my surprise I've found out... I REALLY like Jake/Dirk. It's super weird because most of the time I'm pretty neutral about same-sex ships, but this one is just really really cute. Plus it's almost canon. Heh. I hope you don't take the above as being homophobic. I swear I'm not.

whatamIsayingI'mjustramblingaren'tI


	10. Uneasy Fermata

**You are ROXY LALONDE and you are WAY TOO SOBER.**

Gog, Los Angeles was practically a potluck of clubs and bars. Flashing lights and pounding bass rhythms assaulted her every night on the way back to the hotel, irritating her head and eyes.

But here she was, three days into their trip, _still sober._

The first day, they had immediately split up into the city's many supermalls and begun their shopping. By the time they had finished, it was already nighttime and they returned to the hotel, physically exhausted. The second day, Roxy's bus decided to take a detour to the giantass white letters everybody made a big deal out of but in reality weren't very impressive. After the wasted hour of burning the word HOLLYWOOD into her retinas, they continued on their way to the La Brea Tar Pits, where they stared at sticky black asphalt and pretending to see fossils in the oily black mess. If there was a single person who actually gave a fuck about bones of extinct animals buried in the equivalent of tobacco-waste, it was certainly not her.

Stopping for a lunch break at a random restaurant, all of the buses drove to the Los Angeles Central Public Library, which delighted her little sister and confused Roxy to no end. Why on earth did _libraries _have to be modeled after Egyptian architecture? Egypt was a pretty random-ass country, next to Czech and Slovakia. Or was it Czechoslovakia? Czechslovakia, Czechoslovakia... she couldn't remember which one it was. But either way, it was absolutely preposterous and ridiculous. They'd spent a good four hours there, staring at books before it was evening again. She had taken a quick shower and fallen asleep instantly on the bed she shared with Rose, ignoring her sister's mumbled protests when she stole all of the blankets. All of them.

And this afternoon they were standing on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Roxy studied the brass stars and names embedded in the cement. Farther away, Jane was walking around outside the Kodak, looking for actors or actresses she knew. The occasional giggle of recognition as Jane saw a handprint or footprint belonging to one of her favorite movie stars floated over to Roxy, who dawdled by the square with Walt Disney's name on it.

She looked over at John and Jake, who were discussing [very loudly] movies.

Terrible movies, to be specific. She would never understand their thought processes.

Noticing Dirk, who was casually leaning against a wall, she maneuvered over to him and huffed. He stared at her [or was he? Stupid shades] and nodded. "Hey, Roxy."

She could feel a headache coming on. "When are we getting out of this place? Please, please let it be soon."

"I'd say another fifteen minutes before we're packed on the bus again."

Swearing quietly, she slumped against the wall as well. "I need a drink." Preferably one of alcoholic content. Dirk sensed it.

"No, you don't."

The exchange finished, they stayed there until Karkat, drawing many nasty looks as he did so, screamed at them to get "back on the fucking bus you ignorant pieces of-"

At which point a drumming over the head with Terezi's cane caused him to turn his attention to the owner of the cane.

**Your name is SOLLUX CAPTOR and you are SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. You are the HEAD of GEMINI HOUSE, and you tend to thpeak with a BIT OF A LITHP. You mean LITHP. LISP, GOGDAMNIT. As of RIGHT NOW you are on a BUS headed back to the HOTEL for LUNCH.**

The radio was on [he didn't know buses even had radios], reporting about some grisly chain murders that had been strung throughout LA. Apparently they had all been stabbed through the chest and left where they lay.

Well, didn't that make him feel safe and sound? Looking for a distraction, he turned to his right.

Aradia was sitting next to him again, her face turned towards the window. She had the prettiest eyes, he thought, studying her profile from behind his red-blue glasses. Large, dark, thick-lashed, and…

They used to be soulful. Before the incident.

Now they were blank and empty and wide and vacant, but hell if he didn't love them just as much.

_It was you._

She never used to be bored. Now she was almost perpetually so.

_Did you forget?_

Yet lately there had been a small spark, a little more emotion, a bit of life, of _caring _that had sprung into her eyes, almost without notice. He saw it in the way she smiled, a real smile, the way she laughed, a real laugh.

It was like Aradia, his Aradia, was coming back from whatever deep abyss she'd fallen into. He averted his gaze when he remembered exactly what had caused the blackout.

_You._

He didn't want to remember.

The bus jolted to a stop and they began to file out of it and into the hotel. The hotel provided lunch for them in one of the conference rooms, buffet-style. Sollux handed a plate to Aradia and passed another one to Feferi, who was behind him, dumping little piles of food on the white ceramic as they moved down the line.

**You are now JANE CROCKER and you are a NERVOUS WRECK.**

Why?

The word could be applicable to begin countless questions.

Why was she on the same bus as him? Why did he pop up everywhere? Why did he always have that terrifying smile on his face?

Why, why, why, why, _why?_

Jane tried to relax herself as she took a bite of spaghetti, but her body remained as tense as ever. John looked at her, concerned. "Jane, are you okay? You look stressed."

Gritting her teeth and stabbing another cluster of pasta, she said, "Oh, yes, I'm perfectly fine." She managed a weak laugh, trying to control the involuntary spasm that ran up her arm.

She supposed it was an irrational fear. But then again, most of her fears were irrational. Gamzee had started out as simply a rather intimidating, tall, lanky boy with clown makeup plastered across his face.

With a creepy smile on his face.

And then she began feeling uncomfortable around him, which escalated her phobia more and more until she was completely _afraid. _Afraid of him.

"Jane?" Roxy waved a hand in front of her face.

"You can diagnose me with juggalo phobia now," she sighed, rubbing her eyes behind the glasses. "You wouldn't happen to have some sort of prescription for that, would you?"

Rose cut a sausage in half with delicate precision. "No, I wouldn't. But I _have _compiled a psychoanalysis of your phobia."

A few seats away from her, Dave scoffed. "Oh, hell no. Just add it to your giantass _library _of fucking psychoanalyshit, Lalonde."

"Your _clever _wordplay aside, Strider," sniffed the blonde, placing the severed sausage in her mouth and chewing daintily.

"Where's dear, little Huggy Bear?" interjected Dirk, playing around with his fork. "Would having a robot bunny armed to the metal herbivorian molars give you a sense of security which is, by the way, completely useless?"

A groan from Jane. "He's in my room, stuffed in the closet. You know, just like the way I first found him. And he's a bunny, not a bear."

"You need to rename him, then. Or possibly change his gender, if that's what the almighty Jane Crocker desires." Dirk tapped out a rhythm with his fingertips.

Jane thought over it for a few seconds and snapped her fingers. "Lil Sebastian," she declared, earning a nod of approval from Dirk.

"Sebastian like… that cute little crab thing from The Little Mermaid?" piped Jade, a wide smile on her face. "That's so adorable!"

"Well… not quite, but oh, whatever," sighed Jane, running a hand through her short hair.

Finishing her food, she rose to put it in the… in the…

The dirty-plate area?

She nearly sprinted on the way back, having seen a certain Capricorn get up from his seat. Ducking behind tables as she went [and earning odd looks along the way], she eventually made it to her seat and collapsed, her heart racing. "He's _everywhere_," she hissed frantically.

Jake chuckled. "Oh, Jane, you'll be graduating this year so you shan't see him after this, am I right?"

She scowled at him. "Too bad 'this' is six months away. I've never been in such a rush to graduate from high school. If this even qualifies as high school."

Pushing back her chair, she bid good bye to her friends, planning to go and rest in her hotel room. Sight-seeing was over for the day, unless the students wanted to go out on their own. Fumbling around in her pocket for the key card, she cast a cautionary glance towards the Heads' tables and was strangely relieved to see that Gamzee was not there.

But where had he gone?

Deciding that she didn't want to take the elevator, she slipped around to the stairs and trudged upwards.

_Honk._

Oh, this was ridiculous. She was going insane. All of the 'honks' must have been a figment of her imagination.

_HONK._

She slid the plastic card into the thingamabob on the door, waiting for the click and beep before sliding in the room and shutting the door. Making a beeline to the closet, Jane shoved the clothes aside and retrieved Lil Sebastian from the bottom, smiling as his red shades [just like Dirk's] lit up in recognition.

"Fake sense of security?" she said aloud. "I'll take it."

Setting the bunny on the dresser next to the bed she shared with Jade, she curled up into the blankets and took out a book to read, plugging in her headphones as she did so.

She didn't hear the honks.

And if she had, she would have been terrified.

**First, stop being the juggalo-phobic teenage girl. Second, be the juggalo.**

**Your name is GAMZEE MAKARA and you are-**

**PSYCHE. You cannot be the juggalo for unknown reasons. You try to be somebody else instead.**

**You are now JADE HARLEY. You have just FINISHED eating LUNCH and you are in front of the door to your ROOM.**

On the way up, she had heard so many faint honks that she was beginning to think she was losing her mind. She thought she kind of knew why Jane was so afraid of the sound, when repeated so many times it became rather eerie and haunting.

Unlocking the door, she poked her head in before adding the rest of her. Jane was sitting on their bed, reading a thick book while listening to music.

Jade crept silently towards the bed before pouncing and landing heavily on the bed, startling Jane and provoking a shriek from the older girl.

"Shit!" Jane swore as her book fell to the floor. Meeting Jade's green eyes, she smiled wearily, still in shock. "Well, hi, Jade."

Giggling, Jade sprawled on the bed, shoving her long black hair out of the way. "Hi, Jane! Do you want to go out with us later?"

"Who's 'us'?"

Jade rolled over, nearly squashing her cousin. "Oh, you know, Jake, John, Dirk, Dave, Rose, and Roxy!"

"Sure. Pourquoi pas?"

"Bon! Je vais parler avec nos amis!"

"You go do that, then. When are we leaving?"

Jade had already bounced off of the bed and was halfway out the door. "Umm, at three! I think we're going out to the convention center, Dirk says there's some sort of expo there and he wants to go!" The door swung and clicked shut.

She checked the time on her iPod. Two-fourteen.

_Honk._

Shivering involuntarily, she put her earphones back in.

Stupid lousy goddamn honking.

* * *

A/N: Eep. I'm way behind schedule. We're supposed to be at the fall ball [hehe] by now! Mrrh. Maybe I should just start making my chapters longer. It's just that after 2000 something words I get sick of the same chapter and I like, HAVE to start a new one. This chapter's a bit short, though... fwoooooomph.

Oh, and 7zebey, thank you for pointing it out! Leaving 'Tavros' as her last name would have been really really embarrassing... so you have my gratitude (: All of it. Aaaaall of it.

And I realized... there is absolutely NO Jane/Gamzee shipping on this site. If there is, I haven't found one. I wasn't really planning to put them together, but I guess it's been shifting towards that direction, even if Jane is currently scared shitless of our lovable [batshit crazy] juggalo.

Yep. Thanks for reading, & review, please? Reviews are like the jelly donuts to my police officer alter-ego. Just kidding, I lied, I'm not a police officer in any aspect or fragment of my personality.

I'm rambling again... well, until next time!


	11. Offbeat Acciaccatura

A/N#1: I hope you're in the mood for fluff. It's so fluffy, you're going to die. You have been warned.

* * *

**You are TEREZI PYROPE and you are on the PLANE RETURNING to ALTERNIA ACADEMY.**

The trip had been fun, she supposed, with the exception of Karkat's constant muttered expletives. Of course, that was perfectly normal, so she wasn't sure why she was complaining. After all, she was used to it, wasn't she?

Karkles was sitting next to her again, and he smelled sleepy.

Yes, that was a thing. It had always been a thing.

She smiled widely as he finally succumbed to sleep and leaned against her. His hair smelled good, like always.

**Terezi: Pass time by reminiscing.**

Well, of course she would! What else was there to do on a nine-hour plane ride? Not much, besides sleep.

Terezi stroked his dark brown hair, thinking back to little moments they'd shared, thinking about all of the little things that made Karkat who he was.

The way he smelled. He smelled like sunsets and shyness. He smelled like love and passion and happiness and gold, the way he was so soft beneath the hard exterior.

The way he tasted. His kisses tasted like candy and carried a hint of strawberries. He tasted _delicious. _She could kiss him all day if it weren't for the fact that they had everyday lives to attend to.

His eyes. He'd never liked them and tried to hide them for the longest time, never meeting anybody in the eye. Until Terezi finally decided to become his friend. However, by the time he had finally summoned up enough courage to look at her, look directly at her, she had already become blind.

But she didn't mind, because she remembered what they looked like, remembered the bright redness that even now exploded on her tongue, remembering the color. The dark lashes framing them that tasted like dark chocolate when she kissed his tears away after his sister had been killed in a car accident. And even his tears were lovely, like sea salt caramel. Everything about him was just that.

Lovely.

Was it odd that she had fallen for such a boy? She knew that he only ever showed the soft side of him to her, only to her. When other people were around he was just Karkat, loud, angry, and always yelling the most creative combination of swearwords.

She liked his creativity. His words were never bitter, a little sour, and almost always sweet. Was that what creativity tasted like?

He claimed to hate the world but she knew better. He didn't hate anything, couldn't hate anything. For all of his bravado, Karkat was just as caring and sweet as Tavros. And she knew it, despite his shy 'you're the only one I don't hate with a passion hotter than the fucking sun'.

No, she wasn't the only person he didn't hate.

But she was the person he cared the most about.

She liked that, too.

Oh, the way he _smiled _was precious, she could _feel _it even if she couldn't see it anymore. It started slowly and accelerated when she ran her fingers over his face; she could feel the corners of his mouth tug upwards, his cheeks heating up and warming underneath the cool surface of her fingertips.

It was a rare smile, rarer than diamonds and in her opinion much more precious, because who could ever compare tawdry, tasteless, bland diamonds to the absolute delight of Karkat's smile?

And even when they got into fights she knew he still loved her and wasn't truly mad, just as she still loved him and could not be angry. She didn't like it when he was angry or sad, he turned bittersweet and melancholy and she wanted to hug him until he felt better.

The night his sister died, he had disappeared, leaving no trace behind. The disturbing emptiness in the air, the absence of his scent, the odd silence.

It terrified her. She didn't know where he was, why he was gone, if he was okay or not. Fumbling around corners with uncharacteristic clumsiness, swearing when she dropped her cane, realizing that she had taken the wrong turn at the wrong hallway and had lost her way inside the vast school.

For the first time in her life, Terezi had felt blind.

She'd gone on slowly, feeling around for anything familiar, and then she heard him.

Quiet sobs, the occasional sniff. Terezi had breathed a sigh of relief and concern, silently maneuvering around to the source of the sad saltiness.

And he'd been sitting inside the library, against the farthest bookshelf, crying.

He hadn't wanted her to see him cry.

"Oh, don't worry, Karkles," she'd murmured softly. "I _can't _see you cry."

Letting him cry into her shoulder. Letting him be weak because he was allowed to, after all the years of being strong.

Arms wrapped around him. Arms wrapped around the most important thing in her life and what else was there to do because it was Karkat, _her _Karkat that was crying and hurt and sad. He was her knight, the one that had saved her from being truly, _truly _blind and there was nobody to save him except for her because she was the only one that could save him, the only one _to _save him.

And eventually he had explained the situation through broken breaths and tiny hiccups and then there was nothing left to do but hold him and coo to him that everything was going to be alright.

She remembered the first time they had kissed, when they were sitting side by side on the rooftop, staring up at the stars and the constellations. Or at least, he was, and she was flicking her tongue out, trying to catch a taste of stars. She liked stars, they were cold and bright and icy and sharp.

His breath tickled her ear when he whispered soft, sweet nothings, but they weren't the stereotypical murmurings lovers came up with, no, they were one hundred percent Karkat Vantas, complete with rude words and expletives. At the same time he had said them with a halting shyness that made her giggle, knowing that the soft voice he used with her was the only time he ever used it.

And then he had kissed her, uncertainly, hesitantly. She had wanted to drown in his lips, the overwhelming explosion of red color and taste that left her gasping for air and her heart drumming rapidly as her hands flew up to his cheeks.

When they broke apart, she'd felt him looking straight at her, her and nobody else. "Terezi, I fucking love you." The growled undertone was low and it had made her laugh as she pulled him down for another kiss under the night sky with nobody but the moon and her entourage of stars as witnesses.

She looked at him now and a warm flush of protectiveness spread over her. Karkat. The most beautiful, delicious, adorable boy in the world loved her just as much as she loved him.

**You are now JOHN EGBERT. You have been back from the TRIP for nearly TWO WEEKS and the AUTUMN BALL is TOMORROW. You are a LITTLE BIT NERVOUS.**

"C'mon, Egderp, just ask the fucking broad out and you'll have enough mangrit to grow some balls in that oddly feminine area you call a crotch," Dave commented offhandedly, munching on a slice of pepperoni pizza.

John winced. "Ew."

"I'm not kidding around, all those years of watching completely shitty movies made you grow a fucking vagina. Now's your chance to redeem yourself, like Arthur and that legendary piece of shit he had to pull from a rock."

Staring down at his plate, John moved a few pieces of potato around with his fork. "I do _not _have a vagina, Dave!"

"Have you developed an underlying psychological obsession with vaginas as well as phalluses, Dave?" inquired Rose from where she sat next to Jade. "I do hope this isn't a Freudian-"

"No, enough with your Gogdamn psychological bullshit," Dave interrupted without skipping a beat. "This is about Egbert not being able to ask a girl out to a dance, not whatever mental issues I don't have."

"Oh, who are you going to ask out, John?" Jade squealed, eyes sparkling. Dave's mouth twitched. "This is so exciting!"

John pulled a face. "Um… Vriska, I guess."

"Spiderbitch?" Dave asked, a pale eyebrow making its way above the dark blackness of his shades. "Really. Of all the chicks around here you choose the creepy one missing an eye and an arm."

"She's not a bitch, she's actually really cool, Dave!" protested John, sliding back his chair to leave. "Alright, I'm going to ask her right now!"

"Good luck, John!" called Jade from the table as he made his way out of the dining hall.

He had talked with Vriska over the course of their week-long trip to Los Angeles, and he found that while she was a little bossy, she was funny and surprisingly nice. Her fixation on the number eight was kind of endearing and she was actually really pretty, even with the ruined face and missing arm. He couldn't quite remember her face from before the explosion, he only knew that she was incredibly good-looking.

Lost in his thought process, he didn't even notice when he bumped into her.

"Heeeeeeeey, John! What're you doing here?"

Startled, he reared back before realizing who it was. "Oh, hi, Vriska! Um, I need to ask you something."

She cocked her head, her missing eye hidden behind the eyepatch-like thing on her glasses. "What?"

_Now or never, now or never, now or never, the dance is tomorrow you idiot, just ask her-_

"I was just wondering if you'd want to go to the Autumn Ball with me?" He blurted out the words before he'd found a way to put it more sophisticatedly and immediately regretted not thinking it over.

_She's going to say no, you big derp. _The next moments were tense as John held his breath, waiting for her reply.

Her face remained inscrutable for a few seconds before breaking into a huge smile. "Sure! But it's not a date, okay?"

Weak laughter. "Oh, yeah. Well, um… do I pick you up from your dorm, or do I just meet you there?" Oh man, he was so awkward. Awkward awkward awkward.

"Just meet me there, John," Vriska laughed, kissing him on the cheek and walking past him. He stood there, dazed, before tentatively raising up a hand to his face.

"I just asked a girl to a dance and she said yes," he said aloud, without realizing it. Fist pumping the air, he whipped out his phone and began texting Dave.

**You are now DAVE STRIDER and you are EAITNG LUNCH. Moments ago, your BEST BRO, JOHN EGBERT, marched off to war. You mean he went off to ASK out VRISKA SERKET to the DANCE. **

Sliding out his phone and checking the text, he realized it was from John. A slight smirk crossed his face as he replied with the appropriate Strider congratulations.

"So, did Vriska say yes?" Jade asked, leaning over the table, large green eyes fixated on him. He fought the urge to blush, because Striders didn't blush. It just didn't happen.

"Does Rose have an obsession with trying to prove that I'm gay, which I'm not?" he responded rhetorically, but he had to smile at Jade's adorable giggle as she hi-fived him.

"Well, if you manage to bring a girl to the ball yourself, some of my suspicions will be dispelled," Rose said, meticulously cleaning off her plate.

Jade's eyes grew wide. "Yeah, you need a date to the Autumn Ball, too, cool kid!"

He would never admit how cute he found her bubbly voice. Catching her hand and steering her around the table so that she was standing and he was down on one knee, still with her hand in his, he looked up at her through his shades. The entire dining hall was watching now, some girls 'aww'ing in the background, a few boys catcalling. "So, Harley, would you do me the pleasure of bein' my date to the dance?" Shit. His accent was slipping out. This was not cool. Striders did not get flustered.

Her other hand rose to her mouth while a pink flush slowly made its way onto her cheeks. "When you ask like that, there's really no way I can refuse, is there?" She was just too damn cute. He lost his train of thought for a second before responding. Gogdamn trains, always flying off of their rails. You'd think engineers would learn to keep the damn things on track. Metaphorically, of course.

"It was just a formality, Harley. You were going to be my date even if I had to kidnap you in the middle of the dance." Really. Kidnapping. What the fuck was he thinking?

"Questionable motives and brain-melting adorableness aside," Rose interrupted as they sat down again, now with Dave's arm across Jade's shoulders. "Dave, I do hope you'll be a gentleman and escort her to the dance?"

Dave didn't stoop to rolling his eyes. Only girls did that. And John, of course. "My twin sister doubts me? Where has this world gone?" Where had all of his wit gone, for that matter? It was as if his smartass mouth was a police officer and somebody had just thrown a bucket full of jelly donuts towards South fucking America.

"To hell, if we listen to the recent news reports," deadpanned Rose as she got up to put her plate away. "If you'll excuse me."

* * *

A/N#2: Damn, I did it again. We're now two chapters behind schedule.

Fuuuuudge. I really need to just... make my chapters a lot longer.

Anyway, Karezi! I don't even know why it was so easy to write, the entire thing just like... blurbed out. Sat down, typed "You are Terezi Pyrope" and then that whole mess appeared. Yep. I accidentally that.

That.

Thanks for reading & do review! Until the next time I decide to blarf out another 2000 something words of... this. I'll accidentally... that.

Wow, it's not even 10 and I'm being asinine already. Bye (:


	12. Autumn Kisses

**You are JADE HARLEY and it's the NIGHT of the AUTUMN BALL. YOU and ROSE are in your ROOM, PRIMPING.**

**You mean PREPARING.**

Rose looked really pretty! She was wearing a spaghetti strapped orange dress that clung close until the hips, where it flared out in layers of silky, iridescent orange fabric. Her shoes were a sky blue and reminded Jade of ballerina slippers.

"Wow, you look awesome!" Jade giggled, reaching over and fixing a stray hair.

"Thank you, Jade. You look quite stunning yourself."

Her own dress was black, but there was something about it that made it sparkle. It was as if somebody had cut out a piece of universe and shaped it into a dress, complete with nebulous stars that she could almost _see _in the material. It flowed down in elegant cascades until it hit the floor, with a slight train dragging behind her. "Like something you'd wear at three in the morning, right?"

"Precisely." Rose picked up a brush and began combing through Jade's hair, trying to make it less wild than usual. She barely succeeded after a long, drawn out fight against the black curls.

Adjusting her glasses, she pinched herself and giggled again, unable to help herself. "I bet it's going to be really fun tonight!" Her heart wouldn't stop fluttering and her stomach was feeling pleasantly uncomfortable when she thought of her date.

"So, has Dave seen you in your dress yet?" Rose asked, setting the brush down and fixing the thin strap on her shoulder.

Glancing at her bright green slipper-heels, she responded, "Oh, no, not yet. I hope…" She trailed off, twisting a lock of hair between her fingers.

Rose smirked. "Don't worry. If he isn't knocked off of his feet when he sees you, I'll be sure to do the job myself." As an afterthought, she added, "With a violin case."

"Aw, thanks, Rose!" Jade began pacing the room, only remembering at the last second to take off the rubber bands that adorned her fingers. "Sure wish that lasted forever."

A knock on the door sent Jade into a flustered rush as Rose crossed the room to open it sedately.

Dave stood in the doorway, his tall, slender frame outlined by lights from the hallway. "Sup, Harley? Looking good."

"Dave!" She nearly ran over to him, an involuntary smile stuck on her face. "Hi!"

"You ready?" He was wearing a crisp black tuxedo with a white dress shirt underneath. She thought he looked absolutely gorgeous.

_Swoon._

Nodding breathlessly, she bid goodbye to Rose and was swept out the door by Dave, laughing the entire time.

**You are FEFERI PEIXES and you are ABOUT TO LEAVE FOR THE BALL.**

One last check up in the mirror made her smile as she studied her reflection. Her wildly curly black hair had been tamed down a little and now hung in respectable waves down her back. Her dress made her look like an empress; it was long and swirly, black with fuchsia streaks in it.

Next to her, Nepeta was smoothing down her Tinkerbell-esque ensemble and retying the wide black ribbon behind her back. "You look purrfect, Feferi!" Nepeta laughed as she dragged Feferi towards the door, making sure that the other girl didn't stumble in her heels. "Now, let's go!"

Blinking carefully [her makeup had been very carefully done and she did _not _want to mess it up], Feferi followed Nepeta out the door towards the ball.

This year, they had set it up outside for the 'Garden of Eden' theme. Well, their garden certainly looked the part.

When they had arrived outside, Feferi stood in awe while Nepeta gasped, delighted.

They had strung thin, translucent paper lanterns in all the colors of the rainbow through the trees, causing them to emit faint orbs of pastel-toned light. The tall streetlights, which had always been ornate in their detailed railing and curves, shone brightly and lit up the entire garden just like the moon, which smiled serenely overhead. Soft music was playing in the background, and the main pavilion had been cleared away for a dance floor.

"It's so pretty!" Feferi breathed, an irrepressible smile spreading across her face. She looked farther ahead and spotted Karkat and Terezi together, taking a walk through the garden. Terezi had her head against Karkat's shoulder and her arm looped through his, which was presumably the source of the muted red flush on his face. The ball hadn't begun yet, and so far, only the Heads were allowed inside. Tavros spotted her and gave a little wave towards her and Nepeta. They waved back and smiled.

Her stomach flip-flopped as she cast a glance towards the private entrance, hoping that Sollux would walk through it. At the same time, she dreaded seeing him come in with Aradia and forced herself to look away, although it kept drawing her gaze like a magnet. A very strong magnet.

To her relief, Eridan had not yet arrived, and she began to wonder how she could possibly avoid him the entire night.

_No! I'm going to have fun no matter what!_

And maybe avoiding him was a little immature of her, but she really did not want to deal with all of those pent up feelings that talking with Eridan entailed.

A flash of a tall male sent her scurrying to the shelter of the orchard, pulling Nepeta along with her. Her heart thudded with anxiety as she hid behind a grove of apple trees, resisting the urge to sneeze when an apple blossom drifted down to rest on her nose.

"That was Gamzee, not Eridan, Feferi," whispered Nepeta, gently removing a swath of Feferi's dress from the undergrowth. "You're going to ruin your dress!"

Feferi flashed a weak smile at Nepeta. "Thank you." They ventured out again, Feferi's eyes flicking back and forth, wary.

She knew she would have to deal with him eventually. It was the responsible thing to do, and it wasn't fair to leave him hanging like that.

But the unreasonable part of her wanted to just hide away from her feelings.

She ignored both halves of her brain and vowed to enjoy the night.

**You are now KANAYA MARYAM. You are at the AUTUMN BALL and are SURVEYING YOUR SURROUNDINGS.**

Yes, the decor was quite lovely, although Gamzee's tie was… it could… it could use a little…

Oh, who was she trying to fool? It was absolutely atrocious and did not, _did not, _go with his neat indigo-purple suit. It was a good thing Kanaya knew how to deal with a crisis of any kind. Particularly the fashion ones.

Beckoning him over to her, she dug around in her purse for the black bow tie she had kept in there for situations like the one presented before her, snapped it around his collar and nearly ripped off the tie. "You look much better," she said, surveying him and glancing at the green-and-purple polkadotted monstrosity in her hand. "I am sorry about your tie, though."

"It's fine, sis, you were just trying to up and fix my motherfuckin' clothes, yeah?" He nodded lazily and loped off, leaving Kanaya to stuff the hideous piece of fabric in her purse, vowing to burn it the first chance she got.

Sollux came in, with Aradia next to him. She smiled at the two, noting their color schemes. Sollux was in a dark blue tuxedo, while Aradia was in an elegant red dress that reminded her of a flamenco dancer's outfit. It clung to her body until halfway down the thigh, where it flared out in layers and layers of ruffles. Aradia had better fashion taste than she had initially suspected, Kanaya mused, nodding a hello to them as they passed by.

Vriska struck quite the odd figure, with only one arm, but her hair was pulled up into an elegant pony tail and she drifted around like a fairy in her white fairy dress. A fairy with only one arm and one eye.

Her own dress was a jade green, with a stylish cut and a black-and-white sash tied loosely around the waist, hanging at the side. She was rather proud of it, herself.

Tapping her heel-clad foot on the ground, she checked her phone.

_Six-fifty four._

Six minutes until the gates opened to everybody, not just the Heads. She wandered over and fixed a crooked lantern that hung on one of the lower branches of a cherry tree, admiring the soft pink glow that came from it. It had been a good idea to use paper lanterns, mused Kanaya.

Almost as good of an idea as _oh my Gog what the _hell _was that?_

Her eyes.

They were bleeding.

Nobody, and she meant _nobody, _had any right to pair white trousers with purple shoes and a purple-black-blue striped suit and _another purple-black scarf over the entire thing. _It simply _was not _a thing that could be done, especially not during a ball.

It never had been.

Nearly running in her black heels, she shoved Eridan back through the entrance, nearly tackling him to the ground, before dragging him through the school all the way to the orchestra room. A few suits still hung [the orchestra had flown to New York for a concert and not everybody had taken the suits back] and Kanaya frantically shoved a nice white tuxedo in his hands before shoving him into the cello room and hissing, "Change at once, your outfit is-"

"W-what?" The entire time, Eridan had not said a single word, besides the occasional 'what the fuck, Kan'.

"Do it now, Eridan, or I will slice you in half with a chainsaw," Kanaya said, regaining her calmness. "You simply cannot be seen in public with that outfit."

He muttered several rude words but complied, complaining about her meddling the entire time. She responded by bemoaning his complete and utter lack of fashion sense. He came out, looking much better, and she fussed around with his tie, which was unfortunately purple, but she could deal with it under the circumstances. After all, white needed color accents. Stepping back, she determined that it did not look as bad as she had feared, and he looked much more respectable. "Now, you may go."

They hurried back to the ball, realizing that it had already started and that the headmaster was currently giving a speech about tradition and other unnecessary things. Catching a confused glance from Vriska, she jerked her head towards Eridan, who was craning his neck, looking for somebody. An understanding smirk appeared on her face and she nodded before a tap on her shoulder distracted her. Kanaya watched John talk to Vriska for a few seconds before the music started, the headmaster backed down, and the ball began. Although, she supposed, as she watched some couples dance, it could not really be considered a ball any more with those lewd gyrations. Did that even count as dancing?

The majority of couples were beginning to choose their partners, but the Heads had to enter the dance floor first before anybody else could. Kanaya stood next to Eridan, watching as Aradia and Sollux floated to the center, before Nepeta and Equius followed, and then Karkat and Terezi. Feferi tiptoed out with Tavros, Vriska whirled around in John's arms, and Kanaya, Gamzee, and Eridan stepped out as a group of three. The crowd eventually came closer, and soon, the stone square was filled with circling couples, dancing underneath the night sky.

**You are JANE CROCKER and you are ENJOYING THE BALL.**

She laughed as Roxy sashayed up to her. "So, best friend, got your eye on any dudes out there?"

Jane tapped her chin, thinking about it. "No, I wouldn't say so. What about you, Roxy?"

Sidestepping Vriska and John, who waved hello to his older sister, Roxy slid next to Jane. "Me neither. All the dudes are either taken, boring, or they're after someone else."

"It's alright, just have fun tonight, I guess," Jane sighed, smiling when her cousin, Jake, came over. "Hey, Jake."

"Hello, Jane. By chance, have any of you seen Strider?" Jake smiled at them, fiddling with his black tie.

Roxy coughed a little, raising her eyebrows. Her pink eyes narrowed on Jake. "Any particular reason, Jakey?"

Jane watched, slightly bemused. Was she being overly analytical or was their some sort of hidden battle going on here? Well, it was probably only on Roxy's behalf, Jake looked as clueless and easy-going as ever.

"I haven't seen him all day," her cousin raised his hands as if to ward off Roxy's suspicious gaze. "And I get the feeling he's been trying to tell me something, so I thought I might as well clear the whole mess up with him tonight."

She really hoped there was not a double meaning to those words.

"Oh, um," she started, cringing a little when both their heads swung towards her. "I'm just going to go and see if I can find Dirk, then?"

Leaving the two, Jane sidestepped through the mass of dreamy couples and sadly single people, looking for Dirk. A flash of orange and black caught her eye, and she squeezed between a pair of people who were locked in a passionate make-out session, apologizing as they broke apart and glared at her. Catching up with the orange-vested-black-dress-shirt-clad boy, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Dirk, Jake's been looking for you!"

He turned around. "Hey, Jane. Has he?"

His tone was strangely flat, even duller than usual. She blinked, concerned. "Um, are you alright, Dirk?"

"Don't worry about me," he said, brushing off her concern with that same monotone. "So where is he?"

Frowning, she told him and watched him disappear without a word. She was now seriously worried, but Dirk had made it clear that he didn't need her concern. Sighing, she turned around and squeaked when she bumped into somebody, apologizing and making to turn away when the low voice interrupted her. "Hey, sis. You up and having fun at the dance?"

Freezing, she turned around slowly, as if she were made out of stone and moving quickly would crack the stone. "Oh, hi, Gamzee. Um, yeah, I'm having a nice time."

He didn't have his juggalo makeup on, and she could see every detail of his face, including three diagonal scars she hadn't noticed before. He nodded, an easy smile on his lips. Gog, how did he manage to make smiles look so scary without even trying? Fighting to calm her heart rate and breathing, she tried to abscond, but a sudden grip on her wrist stopped her again.

"C'mon, it's a motherfuckin' dance. So dance with me?"

She really was not in a position to refuse, no matter how much Gamzee terrified her. It would be too rude, even for her, to deny his invitation, so she accepted meekly, cursing her heart rate and stomach. For a moment she wished she'd chosen a more generic color; she was almost certain that her cyan-blue dress had made her stand out and thus caught Gamzee's attention.

Only when they were waltzing did Jane notice how short she was; Gamzee nearly towered over her. Squirming at the necessity of having his hand on her waist/hip and hers on his shoulder/neck region, they circled around, passing by Roxy as they went. The barely suppressed look of mirth on Roxy's face as she saw Jane's uncomfortable awkwardness would have made Jane pouty under any other circumstances. Just… not this one.

And then Gamzee started talking, talking about random things. She couldn't follow his thought process, he jumped from one topic to another, completely unrelated. His husky voice made it a little hard for her to understand, but she did her best to keep up her end of the conversation.

No, she was Jane Crocker and she was the heiress to the Betty Crocker corporation. She was brave and gutsy and impeccably polite because when it came to being a heiress, she was simply the best there was. And being a heiress included mannerisms as well as open-minded-ness.

She realized that Gamzee really was not that bad, and her irrational fear had alienated him in her brain. And maybe he'd be a really good friend if she gave up her phobia and tried to get to know him.

Jane looked up at his face, preparing herself to not flinch. It was probably a good thing he was so good looking, it made things a hell of a lot easier for her. He had the same smile on his face, but with her new mindset, it looked less threatening and more friendly. However, the new way of looking at things didn't stop her from breathing a sigh of relief [subtly] when the song ended and they broke apart. "It was nice dancing with you," she said, trying to promote friendship. She was feeling pretty darn friendly all of a sudden.

"You too, sis. Miracles." And with that, he disappeared into the crowd, leaving her to deal with her rapid heartbeat. Stupid lousy goddamn fear-induced adrenaline rush.

But the thought of Gamzee no longer scared her as much, and she smiled widely as she realized she had gotten, if only a little bit at the very least, over her Gamzee- phobia.

**You are DAVE STRIDER and you are dancing with your DATE, JADE HARLEY. At the moment you are as HAPPY as a COOLKID can get, but you don't show it because COOLKIDS don't SHOW EMOTION.**

But seeing Jade's delighted face was making it pretty damn hard for him to not smile back. He could feel her pressed against him, warm and comforting, as they waltzed around to the edge, where Jade pulled him down to sit on a bench underneath some trees.

"You're a good dancer, Dave!" Jade sighed, leaning back and staring at the stars. "The sky's so pretty tonight!"

"Not as pretty as you, Harley." The cheesy words slipped out of his mouth before he could apply his mental filter and he inwardly swore, but the swearing was immediately dissipated when he saw the faintest hint of a blush creep over her already rosy cheeks.

"Thanks." For a while they sat in the cold but not feeling it, warmed by each other and their emotions.

"You know what would be a good way to end this ball?" Dave said aloud.

_Damn mental filters, never working when you need them to. Should get an engineer up in that bitch to fix it._

Turning luminous green eyes towards him, which were ridiculously wide and innocent and pretty, Jade asked, "What?"

She didn't need an answer when Dave leaned in and kissed her under the stars.

**You are now JAKE ENGLISH. For the past hour or so, you have been doing NOTHING PARTICULARLY INTERESTING. You have just seen DIRK STRIDER, who is making his way over to you.**

"Dirk! How's it going?" he greeted with a wide grin.

"Just saw my little bro making out with your little sister under a tree. Nothing new."

Jake felt his mouth fall open, shocked. "What?" He needed a few minutes to process the development.

"Dave. Jade. Kissing. Need I say more?" He sat down near the refreshments table with a suaveness Jake envied at times. They were now hidden from the rest of the ball, the massive table blocking them from view.

Trailing after him, Jake joined him, still in shock. "I would kill him if it weren't for that fact that he's your little brother, Dirk," he said at last, finding his voice.

"Nice to know. I'll be sure to tell him that being related to me has just saved him from a royal ass-kicking." Dirk sounded more bored than usual, which surprised Jake.

"Are you alright, Dirk?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling just _dandy._" The sarcasm laced through his words was, for once, not lost on Jake.

"Oh, you are _not, _just tell me what the problem is!"

**You are DIRK STRIDER and you have decided that it's TIME to PULL A STRIDER.**

What 'pulling a Strider' meant, he wasn't completely sure of, but after seeing his bro swoon Jade like that, he had a pretty good idea of what it entailed. It was kind of pathetic that he was pulling out his younger brother's moves, but he didn't want to fake it anymore. It was getting too hard, the facade was cracking.

As soon as Jake had finished talking, Dirk pulled the other boy into a deep kiss, barely registering Jake's startled 'mmph'. He didn't release his vice-like grip until he felt Jake relax and… kiss back?

Letting him go after what seemed like hours, he smirked at Jake's completely bewildered expression, which was, by the way, completely and irrevocably adorable. "You're the problem, English. But I think I may have just solved it."

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A/N: Can I just jump off of a cliff? Did I just write two guys kissing?

I mean I guess you could pass it off as expanding my horizons but wow I don't even-

Yep. Pretty long chapter, and now that we're finally done with the ball... we can move on to other stuff! Yay! Do review, please (: oh and I made a tumblr. strawberrysonatina(and then you know, dot tumblr dot com)

heh, maybe I'll put up artwork for this on there.

until next time!


	13. Tell Your Shadow

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, summer school's been a huge butt and - yeah. Enjoy!**

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**Your name is ROXY LALONDE and you are absolutely AGOG at this new piece of INFORMATION.**

"Oh my Gog, you _kissed _him?" she hissed at her twin, mouth open in shock.

It was the day after the ball; a sedate Sunday morning and she'd woken a few minutes ago up to see Dirk sitting calmly on her bed. After responding appropriately [throwing pillows at him until she had none left and resorted to her alarm clock] Dirk had delivered the news she'd been waiting for.

It wasn't what she'd expected, though.

"Well, I couldn't exactly let Dave one-up me," he shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. He met her raised eyebrow and clarified. "Oh, he swept Jade under a tree and kissed her. That kind of romantic shit."

She sat back, mind still sluggish. "It's funny how they're siblings," were the only words that came out of her mouth. "So what happened after that?"

Her brother shifted on the bed, adjusting his crossed legs. "I _think _he kissed back."

A few seconds passed before she twisted, grabbed a pillow from the floor and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of it on Dirk. "_And?"_

Plucking the now-deflated pillow from her hands and returning it to the floor, he flicked a feather off of his shades. "And then he told me he was up for it." A faint smile appeared on his face.

She sat still for a moment, registering what he had said before screaming giddily and launching forward to hug him. She could hear him choking and telling her to _get the fuck off, Roxy _but she didn't care, she was too happy to care. "Oh my Gog, Dirk!" she squealed, squeezing him tighter. "You and Jakey are _together, _then?"

Untangling himself from her arms, he poked her forehead, an affectionate gesture he performed only when he was _really fucking happy _which she assumed he was since he was poking her forehead and _oh my Gog he got the man of his dreams and-_

"Hey, calm down," he admonished, though his own voice was brimming with happiness. She sniffed in mocking compliance and dropped back onto her bed, kicking her legs out.

"Dick, I'm so proud of you," she sighed, eyes closing.

"You're sober, that was intentional, and thank you. I'm going to go grab some breakfast now." His weight left the bed and a second later she heard the door click as he flashed out. The moment he did, her eyes snapped open again and she rolled over to grab her phone, sending a rapid text to Jane telling her to get her ass over to her room for a much needed gossip session.

**Your name is JADE HARLEY and you are VERY HAPPY.**

Rose had stifled a knowing smile when they'd returned to their dorm room last night, and Jade had barely been able to sleep. She'd woken up to a feeling of extreme happiness and bruised lips, a reminder that sent heat up her cheeks as she remembered last night.

Perking up, she got dressed and performed her daily morning ritual before shooting through the door and scrambling towards the Cancer dormitory, looking for her brother, only to run face first into him. Landing on her backside, she looked up and saw Jake's hand, waiting for her to take it. "Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry, Jade," he apologized. "Where were you going in such a hurry?"

"I was going to go see you!" she laughed, accepting the help and standing up. Beaming, she bounced on her heels. "So how was the ball?" Her eyebrows wiggled devilishly. "Anything... _special _happen?"

Noting the red that immediately spread up his neck and face as he sputtered, "Uh, well, what about _you, _Miss Harley? I believe that there was a certain blond gentleman swooning you last night as well-"

"As well?" she repeated, eyebrows ceasing and mouth cracking into a bigger grin. "The only other blond gentleman I know of is Dirk and _oh my Go-"_

He hushed her quickly, leading her to the Cancers' study room. "Shush!" His face was almost as red as Dave's eyes under the tan. Mm. Dave.

Sitting down at a table, she dragged him down and propped her elbows up. "So you kissed?"

"I-" he stammered, his dark green eyes darting around the room and his face turning even redder. "So did you," he defended at last, quickly realizing his mistake. "Shit."

Giggling uncontrollably at the expression on his face, Jade mussed her brother's hair and dropped her hand, still laughing. "Yes, so did I! And Dave made the first move, too. Did Dirk lean in or was it you?"

"Er, well, Dirk," he admitted, letting go of the awkwardness and relaxing slightly. "It was quite the surprise when he did, and-"

She lost control and laughed even harder, peals of laughter ringing through the spacious room until she had collapsed on the desk, still shaking with mirth.

"_What _the fuck are you laughing about, Harley?" a harsh voice snapped, sounding very, very irritable.

Glancing helplessly at his Head, Jake made gestures towards his sister that none of them quite understood. "Well," he began, "We were talking and then-"

"Don't give a fuck," Karkat barked, looking sleepy and grouchy at the same time. "Put a lid on it, bucktooth, some shitheads are still asleep in the dorms."

Gasping from the leftover laughter, Jade looked up with a wide smile, not in the least offended. "Good morning to you, too, Karkat!" Wheezing a little, she slid off of the table and fell to the floor, body trembling with barely suppressed amusement.

"Why are you laughing so hard, Jade?" Jake asked her, a little concerned. "I can't see that it's funny enough for you to collapse."

"Oh, things," she gasped. She couldn't really explain why she was laughing so hard herself, but everything seemed to be so bright and bubbly and good and great and happy today that she simply had to laugh.

Looking a little disturbed, Karkat turned around and stomped out of the room, muttering something unintelligible but most likely very rude underneath his breath.

Jade didn't mind. Her breathless giggles subsiding for a moment, she managed. "If you get married, you better have a double wedding with me and Dave because then it'd be awkward marrying my brother-in-law, okay?"

Her own brother stared blankly at her which spurred another laughing fit.

Eventually he joined in.

And inevitably Karkat came back, more irritated than before.

**Your name is JOHN EGBERT and you are a LITTLE ON EDGE.**

Well, he certainly had not been expecting a slightly drunk Eridan to hit on him or Vriska last night. That was quite possibly the last thing he had expected.

He'd been dancing with Vriska when Eridan barged in, looking... not sober [were balls allowed to have alcoholic drinks? It was a good thing Rose had kept her sister away from the refreshments table then] and proceeded to flirt with both of them at the same time.

"W-why w-won't anyone love me," he slurred, mangling his 'w's and 'v's while clutching at the front of John's tuxedo.

"Um," he had said uncomfortably while leaning away and attempting to extricate Eridan's suddenly very touchy hands from his chest, "I don't know?"

Vriska was laughing uproariously when Eridan turned his attention to her and began slobbering all over her instead, prompting her to adopt a disgusted look. "They've all got hotter irons in the fire, fish face," she had snapped, irritated and more than a little creeped out, shoving his groping hands away from her breast area.

"Stop molesting my date, Eridan!" he'd said, leading Vriska away from the suddenly-teary Eridan and making a run for it, cursing as Eridan stumbled after them. "Damn it!"

Nearly running into Rose as she turned and raised an eyebrow with the words, "In a spot of trouble, I presume?"

"Yes, Eridan's trying to flirt with us and _oh Gog here he comes-"_

"I will provide a distraction. Go."

After he had shot her a grateful glance [really, whatever would he do without Rose?] he had pulled Vriska behind the drinks table, hiding and watching Rose with more than a little awe as she proceeded to...

Confuse the fuck out of Eridan with complicated psychoalyshit before sending him off towards Karkat and Terezi. Karkat reacted appropriately, swearing loudly and yelling at Eridan, who was sobbing into his dress shirt, while Terezi cackled and pat the top of Eridan's head.

"Man, that was close," he had panted, smiling as Vriska laughed with him.

"Sure was," she'd agreed.

The rest of the night was a blur; he recalled his best friend making out with his cousin and his best friend's brother making out with his cousin's brother who was also his cousin so he supposed it was just-

"John."

Snapping back into the present, John lifted his head from the table and squinted. He had been reading in the Aries study room and unwittingly fallen asleep. Checking his watch, he grimaced as he realized it was past 11 in the morning and stretched, glancing at the person who had woken him up. "Oh, hi, Aradia."

"The table didn't look very inviting or comfortable. If you want to sleep you can always sleep in your dorm room," she said, not unkindly as she gently removed the book from beneath his arms.

"Thank you," he said automatically, relinquishing his grip. She nodded in acknowledgement and made to turn around. "Oh, uh, how was the ball for you last night?"

Pausing, she looked back. "Well, I suppose you could say it was the one night of my life I felt truly alive."

He looked after her, more than a little confused, as she stepped away silently.

**Your name is FEFERI PEIXES and you have decided that TODAY is the day you will STRAIGHTEN THINGS OUT with ERIDAN.**

Part of her was terrified of him, but she couldn't figure out why.

He was her best friend, she'd known him since they were little.

He was her worst enemy, he'd made her cry more times than she could count.

And maybe it was the 'worst enemy' part that made her so scared, but a small voice in the back of her mind whispered that he was dangerous and not to-

Shaking it away, she set off towards the dorm Eridan shared with Gamzee and knocked timidly, her heart rate accelerating and her stomach flip-flopping.

She really did _not _want to see him.

She didn't, she didn't, she didn't, _she didn't._

She was afraid of what he would say, what he was feeling.

Gamzee opened the door, looking significantly less stoned than usual, which was... unusual, seeing as it was the day after the ball. "Sup, sis?"

Smiling weakly, she answered. "Hi, Gamzee. Is Eridan in?"

Nodding lazily, he turned around and said, "Hey, motherfucker, Feferi's here to see you."

"Thank you," she whispered, still feeling fearful.

Emotions were boiling and she wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. She cringed when he showed up at the door, looking more than a little angry and something else she couldn't quite identify.

"Hey, Fef," he said quietly, eyes dark and serious. His voice was quiet but it seemed to echo around the room with the implications it carried.

A tremulous smile made its way across her lips. "Hi, Eridan. We need to talk."

A raised eyebrow. "Yeah. We do."

Closing her eyes, she sent a quick prayer to the heavens before taking a deep breath and saying the words she had never been able to say.

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A/N: poor Eridan. Personally I hate him but maybe he's not as bad as I think he is? Just like tons of people hate Vriska but I love her. Hm.

does this count as a cliffhanger? I'm sorry if it does, I didn't really want it to-

and I wrote this up really fast actually o-o I guess you just have to be in the zone to write super-fast. Hope you liked it and drop a review if you can!


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